The White House said on Saturday it cancelled a planned visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao next week because of Hurricane Katrina. "Both presidents agreed that, in the present circumstances, it was best not to have a meeting in Washington next week," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said in a statement.
The summit between Bush and Hu had been scheduled for Wednesday. The meeting was not a full state visit, but it was to have included such formalities as an arrival ceremony on the White House lawn and a 21-gun salute.
The White House said Bush and Hu will meet on the margins of an annual gathering of world leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York, which runs from September 13-16.