The Seventh Fleet's pep band and a People's Liberation Navy band traded marching tunes as the vessel pulled alongside a concrete pier on the Huangpu River, facing the city's famous Bund waterfront area and the skyscrapers of its Pudong financial district.

The amphibious command and control ship USS Blue Ridge planned exchanges between the two navies, and sightseeing and cultural activities for its crew of 1,000 sailors and Marines.

Although the visit was planned long before intelligence reports began raising worries over North Korea's apparent plans to test a long-range missile, it does show the importance of regional cooperation, said the Capt. Jeffrey S. Bartkoski.

"It demonstrates the importance of regional cooperation between our navies to promote regional peace and stability," he said. "It's important for members of the U.S. Navy and PLA Navy to meet each other and get to know each other."

The Blue Ridge's visit follows the attendance at U.S. war games in the Pacific Ocean last week of a 10-member Chinese delegation, including three top-ranking officers — the first-ever such exchange.

The top U.S. commander in the Pacific, Adm. William J. Fallon, has sought to revive military-to-military ties that languished after a 2001 collision between a U.S. spy plane and Chinese jet fighter.

The Blue Ridge last visited Shanghai in February 2004.

The ship, based in Yokosuka, Japan, carries a massive communications system to support the Seventh Fleet and U.S. naval forces in the Asia-Pacific region.

The port call came as South Korea's and China's foreign ministers agreed today in Beijing to step up diplomatic efforts to dissuade Pyongyang from conducting a missile test.

Intelligence reports have said the North may be preparing a Taepodong-2, one of its most advanced missiles, at a launch site on the country's northeastern coast. The missile is believed to be capable of reaching parts of the United States.

North Korea's neighbors and Washington have urged Pyongyang to heed warnings not to test the ballistic missile.

After the "Valiant Shield" war games wound down last week near Guam, Pentagon officials said the guided missile cruisers USS Curtis Wilbur and the USS Fitzgerald were being deployed off the Korean coast to monitor the situation.

U.S. officials emphasized that the exercises were not held in response to the North Korean activity or directed at any one nation, but said they were a demonstration of the United States' capabilities should a crisis arise.