How head-of-state diplomacy steers China-US ties toward stability

Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to the United States from September 23 to 25 at the invitation of US President Donald Trump.

It will be the second meeting between the two heads of state within half a year, following Trump's state visit to China in May.

Detailing Xi's upcoming visit on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the exchange of visits marks a historic milestone.

A review of bilateral relations, which have maintained overall stability despite ups and downs, demonstrates that head-of-state diplomacy has always served as the "anchor" of the relationship, playing an irreplaceable strategic guiding role and providing important strategic safeguards for the improvement and development of bilateral ties.

New positioning Over the years, Xi and Trump have maintained communication through face-to-face meetings, phone calls and other exchanges.

Bilateral relations have moved forward along the track charted by the two leaders.

When they met in May, the two presidents agreed on a new vision of building a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability over the next three years and beyond.

Xi defined the nature of "constructive strategic stability" as a positive stability with cooperation as the mainstay, a sound stability with moderate competition, a constant stability with manageable differences and an enduring stability with promises of peace.

It was more than a new phrase.

At a time of mounting global uncertainty and accelerating changes unseen in a century, the consensus sends an important message: China and the US should choose dialogue over confrontation, cooperation over conflict, and stability over turbulence.

Describing the new positioning of ties as "accurate," Wang Honggang, director of the Institute of American Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told CGTN that "constructive strategic stability" is the long-term direction for the development of China-US relations.

Elaborating on the new positioning, Zhang Tengjun, associate research fellow at the Institute of American Studies at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said it is a new calibration of the logic of China-US relations, adding that "constructive" implies an action-oriented approach, signifying that competition is by no means a zero-sum game, and pragmatic cooperation should be used to offset differences.

Guided by the consensus reached by the heads of state, the two countries' economic and trade teams have held multiple rounds of consultations, aiming to continuously build consensus, manage differences and strengthen cooperation to promote the stable, sound and sustainable development of China-US economic and trade relations.