After a vice-ministerial-level phone call between China and the United States on Jan 4, a working team led by Deputy US Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish came to China on Jan 7. They are expected to have positive and constructive discussions with Chinese counterparts in order to carry out the important consensus reached by the two heads of state in Buenos Aires during the G20 Summit.

It is with the continued guidance from the heads of state of the two countries that both teams have managed in a relatively short time to enter into negotiation.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the China-US diplomatic relationship. In the past four decades, thanks to the stewardship of generations of top leaders of the two countries, bilateral ties have always been able to emerge from the mist and move toward brightness.

Shortly after diplomatic relations were officially established in January 1979, then vice-premier Deng Xiaoping made a historic nine-day visit to the United States. This eye-catching visit was the very first one by China’s top leadership to the United States of America since the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

This visit is still of great importance to today’s bilateral relations. Deng said that the significance of China-US relations exceeds bilateral ties. China-US relations had to be improved, he stressed, because the world’s peace and stability call for it. His visit pushed the button for accelerated progress of ties between the two nations.

In recent years, the two countries faced huge challenges of enhancing strategic mutual trust and properly handling differences. Against such backdrop, President Xi Jinping and then US president Barack Obama met each other a total of 10 times.

The Xi-Obama summits indicated the vital importance the two sides attach to bilateral relationship, as well as the global strategic implications arising from that relationships. Xi reiterates that the Pacific Ocean is vast enough to accommodate both China and the United States, and it’s the prioritized direction of China’s foreign policy to achieve non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation between the two nations.

The first meeting between President Xi and President Trump took place in April 2017 in Mar-a-Lago, Florida at a time of rising protectionism and escalated geopolitical conflicts, and was the first face-to-face communication of the two heads of state after the new American administration took office. Therefore, this summit had a very special bearing on the development of China-US relations.

President Trump made his first state visit to China in December 2017. The leaders of the two countries enhanced their personal friendship, enabling them to chart out the blueprint for China-US relations in the new era. A total of 34 cooperative projects were signed between companies from the two countries, with a record-high volume of $253.5 billion.

It’s not hard to tell that during the past four decades, with the continued leadership from the top leaders of the two countries, China-US relations have managed to progress through twists and turns and forge ahead while solving divergences. To sum up the experience as follows:

First, without the stewardship and guidance of generations of Chinese and American leaders, there would be no such a thing as the current China-US relationship.

Second, judging from the international landscape and their own national conditions at different stages, the two heads of state have identified the common goals of bilateral ties in a timely and accurate manner, laying a solid strategic foundation for the relationship.

Third, the two heads of state both have a deep understanding that the importance of China-US relations far exceeds the bilateral sphere and is taking on greater global significance. Therefore, the two sides should engage in close communication and consultation and effectively manage differences on bilateral, regional and international issues.

Fourth, building upon past momentum and forging into the future, leaders of the two countries should promote interest integration and make the pie bigger in order to bring more benefits to people of the two countries and the whole world.

Last but not least, leaders of the two countries need to seriously take note of the fact that only when they take full care and consideration of each other’s core interests and concerns -- and avoid stepping on the other’s red lines -- will bilateral relations enjoy steady and positive progress.

The US waged a trade war against China in the beginning of 2018, pushing China-US relations to a critical point. In such context, the two heads of state have gathered the courage to shoulder the responsibility of history and managed to get hold of the future direction of bilateral ties among multi-fold difficulties. The two have maintained communication and exchanged five phone calls in 2018.

During the G20 Argentina Summit in December, the two sides agreed to expand cooperation on the basis of reciprocity, control differences on the basis of mutual respect and jointly push forward coordinated, cooperative and stable China-US relations. On Dec 29, Xi and Trump held a telephone conversation. They both agreed to push China-US relations towards stable development, and urged the two working teams to meet each other halfway, reaching an agreement beneficial to both countries and the world as early as possible.

It is with the continued leadership of the two heads of state that bilateral relations have managed to gradually stabilize. Looking forward, both teams will work hard to implement the agreements reached, speed up negotiations and reach an outcome within 90 days that is satisfactory to both countries and the world. This will generate positive elements towards future progress of China-US relations and will also inject new impetus to global economic growth. We have every confidence that with the leadership of both heads of state, China-US relations will undoubtedly again emerge from the mist and forge ahead towards a bright future.

Yuan Youwei is a researcher and deputy director of the Department of External Affairs, China Center for International Economic Exchange. The author contributed this article to China Watch exclusively.

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