China's President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden exchanged congratulatory messages on the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries, on the first day of 2024. Back in last year November, they held a historic meeting in San Francisco.

Although the relationship between China and the U.S. has not been smooth over the past years, it has moved forward overall, which has not only enhanced the well-being of the two peoples but also promoted world peace, stability, and prosperity. Now the relationship between the two countries has come to a new starting point.

Experts from global countries focus on the related issues and express their expectations on the relations between China and the U.S. We list the following keywords for your reference.

Communication on global issues

As the frequency and level of China-U.S. exchanges increase, one to-do list after another may be proposed. For example, such multilateral security crises as Ukraine and Palestine call for China and the U.S. to coordinate. They should not be allowed to become factors enlarging China-U.S. strategic divergences. We must realize that the China-U.S. relationship is not going to rise from its low point anytime soon. The mishandling of any accident might bring the hard-earned momentum back to its nadir.

——By Wang Jisi, President of Institute of International and Strategic Studies, Peking University.

In a nutshell, the current international scene is rife with chaos, and China-U.S. relations are at a critical crossroads. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict shows again that the world is not at peace. It is important for China and the U.S., the world's two biggest economies and members of the UN Security Council, to respect each other, to peacefully co-exist and to cooperate for mutual benefit - which will also inure to the benefit of the people of the two countries and the whole world.

——By Zhao Minghao, Professor at Institute of International Studies, Fudan University.

Taking a cue from President Xi, both China and the United States have the power of influence and capacity to popularize the idea of "ecological civilization" as a paradigm of change and a pathway to green and low-carbon economies. In doing so, Sino-U.S. cooperation will recalibrate the confrontational international order on addressing climate change issues and remake a new world order rooted in advancing the doctrine of humanism.

——By Dennis Munene, Executive Director of the China-Africa Center at the Africa Policy Institute in Nairobi, Kenya.

As a planet, we are facing multiple challenges -- the need to nourish the hungry, manage climate change, sustain economic growth and job creation, and maintain global stability. We hope there will be a positive reset and improved relations between these two global superpowers

——By Grant Kimberley, a sixth-generation soybean farmer and marketing director of the Iowa Soybean Association.

For several years, I've offered three prescriptions for U.S.-China relations: First, don't make things worse. For the first time in years, it seems that both sides are trying to do just this. Second, find small positive things to do together. Certainly, regular communications are key. Third, let time pass peacefully. Time has its own way of solving problems that may seem intractable.

——By Robert Lawrence Kuhn, Chairman of the Kuhn Foundation.

There are also ecological aspects of interdependence, which make decoupling impossible. No country can tackle climate change, the pandemic threat, or other transnational problems alone.

For better and worse, we are locked in a "cooperative rivalry". The situation is nothing like Cold War containment. I hope the leaders [of the two countries] will reaffirm this reality.

——By Joseph Nye, former Dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

Cooperation in economics and trade

The business communities in both countries, as the engines of economic growth, stand to gain immensely from improved relations. Enhanced cooperation promises not only economic benefits but also broader prosperity. However, current political complexities have hindered cross-Pacific business endeavors. Tariffs, trade barriers, and political rhetoric have led US firms to reduce their presence in China as a risk-mitigation strategy. Conversely, Chinese companies in the US, spanning various sectors from technology to renewable energy, have faced political obstacles and operational restrictions.

——By Chris Pereira, Founder and CEO of North American Ecosystem Institute, a communications and business consulting group.

There is a pressing need to break the cycle of decoupling that is underway and, as it involves the two largest economies and major scientific powerhouses, restore the sanctity of open academic and scientific exchanges. To this end, it is essential that China and the US update and renew their bilateral Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement, which provides a framework for joint scholarly research and exchanges between the two sides.

——By Sourabh Gupta, senior Asia-Pacific international relations policy specialist at the Institute for China-America Studies in Washington DC.

Despite their differences and mistakes, the American and Chinese nations share a sense of history, an idea that they have contributed to human advancement and should continue doing so in the future. Economic cooperation has created unprecedented wealth and promoted peace in the APEC region. It is hoped the US and Chinese governments will continue to find common ground, this time for humanity's sake.

——By Hugo Wong, Author.

Both governments, backed by the business community, need to work on practical issues. The joint working groups on finance, economy, export control information and business should step up functioning. The national security issue should be a priority on the agenda. If the US keeps positioning China as the largest geopolitical threat, a wide range of technologies may be regarded as national security concerns. Logically, the "small yard" will be very large, leading to extensive trade bans or restrictions.

We should step up work on major trade and investment projects, increasing the trade and investment volume as soon as possible. Meanwhile, trade and investment activities at the subnational and local levels in particular, should gain further momentum. The more practical the activities, the stronger the ballast stone.

——By He Weiwen, Senior Fellow with the Center for China and Globalization.

Both sides were also keen to reset relations and establish stronger lines of communication. Otherwise, the economic outcomes were largely in the form of symbolic adjustments—extensions of ongoing economic and technological consultations, improved air travel links, and managing risks of oversupply in green technology products—with assurances from both sides of not letting the relationship deteriorate any further.

——By Yukon Huang, Senior Fellow in the Carnegie Asia Program.

Business ties are key to a free flow of communication that can foster better military and geopolitical relations — or at least prevent blunders. Trade policy and national security issues.

And that's good because communications among nations and relationships are important for peace and stability and in just making sure that mistakes don't happen.

——By Kirsten Hillman, Canadian Ambassador to the United States.

People-to-people exchanges

If the younger generation could exchange ideas, meet each other, and visit each other's countries, that could help lay a very important foundation for the future of the relationship.

——By Zhao Suisheng, Director of the Center for China-US Cooperation, Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver.

Rebuilding non-governmental exchanges between China and the U.S. will require both sides to change their ways of thinking, resist domestic political pressure and make greater efforts to do the right things.

First, both sides need to guide the public to support people-to-people exchanges and tamp down contrary voices. Second, both sides should take the initiative to facilitate exchanges. For instance, they should discuss travel procedures and find ways to lower costs and reduce wasted time. Finally, both sides should find ways to mitigate the other side's concerns about personnel security, including providing a better explanation of related laws and regulations passed recently. This should be followed by the cancellation, or significant reduction, of blacklists.

——By Jia Qingguo, Director and Professor, Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding, Peking University.

Personally, I think both countries are trying to find ways they can work together to be successful. And the more we can talk about these things and what and how we can solve them, the better chance that we can be able to get them solved and be beneficial.

——By Bob Holden, former Missouri Governor.

Hopefully, this can bring an end to talk about decoupling and de-linking. And, hopefully, the two nations can further establish new levels of trust and confidence that both countries can gain from improved relations and expanded contacts, especially through people-to-people diplomacy.

Reducing Chinese modernization into a zero-sum game deprives not only the United States but also the rest of the world of China's capabilities, brainpower, creativity, and resources.

The idea of pursuing win-win outcomes is good for China, good for the United States, and good for the world.

——By Denis Simon, Professor of Global Business and Technology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, executive director of the Center for Innovation Policy at the Law School at Duke University.

Fostering a common collective memory could go a long way toward bridging the narrative gap. In this respect, investing in people-to-people ties may prove invaluable, as they lay the foundation for mutual understanding and appreciation of each nation's history and culture. Revitalizing track II diplomacy - informal channels of communication such as dialogues and symposia - would be essential for candid exchanges on matters of the past, present, and future.

These discussions allow for an in-depth exploration of each country's worldview, encouraging empathy and direct engagement with the other's concerns. Such mechanisms are crucial in dispelling misperceptions and paving the way for narratives that reflect shared visions and respect.

——By Vu Le Thai Hoang, Dean of the Faculty of International Politics and Diplomacy, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, and Ngo Di Lan, Researcher at the Institute of Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam.

US opinion polls have shown that the younger generation has a different attitude towards China compared to the older generation.

The youths experienced the benefits of exchanges with people from all walks of life and understand that there is no reason why people from different parts of the world cannot find common ground and achieve things together in everybody's interests.

——By Warwick Powell, adjunct Professor at the Queensland University of Technology.

No two leaves in the world are identical, and no histories, cultures, or social systems are the same. The languages, thoughts and lifestyles of the Chinese and American people are different, but our aspirations for cultural exchange and mutual learning between the two civilizations are the same.

After all, the future of the China-US relationship depends on the youth.

——By Yang Wanming, Head of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC).

Compiled by DeepChina.

The views of these comments don't necessarily reflect those of DeepChina.