Keeping momentum of ties seen as priority

Following the landmark summit between President Xi Jinping and United States President Joe Biden in San Francisco, both China and the US should work in the spirit of having no time to lose in maintaining the current momentum of relieving tension and improving two-way collaboration, exchanges and dialogues, observers said.

Success in managing highly sensitive topics such as the Taiwan question should be prioritized to secure the momentum and meet the Asia-Pacific region's common wish for future tranquility, they added.

Diao Daming, a professor at Renmin University of China's School of International Relations, said that "head-of-state diplomacy has always played the most crucial role of steering and navigating China-US ties", and the summit meeting touched upon topics "that have a bearing on the big picture, strategies and future trends".

He noted that the Chinese side also made some stern and reasonable demands at the summit in response to the US side's suppression, containment and sanctions targeting China in the areas of economy, trade, science and technology.

"This meeting has put forward a clear road map and mapped out a clear direction for further stabilizing, managing and developing China-US relations by addressing strategic perceptions of each other, operations in practice and key issues and topics," he said.

"The US side should further maintain the current momentum and further adjust its perception of China and its policy toward China in order to further stabilize the relations, achieve major improvement of the ties and get them back on track," he added.

Lawrence Loh, a professor and director of National University of Singapore's Centre for Governance and Sustainability, said the meeting "has accomplished monumental success in setting the tone for continued interactions between China and the US".

"Coming back to the table for dialogue in itself is noteworthy — yet there was substantive progress made, especially in resuming military contacts and leader-to-leader communication," he noted.

The Xi-Biden meeting was "not an end in itself, but revitalizes a critical channel that can potentially resolve ongoing geopolitical issues, especially in East Asia and the Middle East", he said.

"China, in particular, came out well from the meeting, as President Xi has been magnanimous to make the long journey for this meeting while conveying the country's longstanding interests in no uncertain terms," he said.

The success of the dialogue "will depend on the sustained commitments of the two countries, and each of them should not engage in any stunt to wind back the trust forged during this event", he added.

Experts noted that at the summit, regarding the Taiwan question, Xi asked Washington to support China's peaceful reunification, saying that "China will realize reunification, and this is unstoppable".

Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, said that Beijing "has made clearer to Washington the requirement in terms of the Taiwan question", following its demands made at the meeting between Xi and Biden in Bali, Indonesia, a year ago.

Su Xiaohui, deputy director of the Department of American Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said that the talks witnessed China's earnest efforts in shaping China-US relations, and President Xi "spoke very frankly and reasonably "on topics such as managing differences and the Taiwan question.

"By making its words clear, Beijing's candid and in-depth communication with Washington not only helps to safeguard its own national interests, but also serves to stabilize the whole of China-US relations. Because only by making matters clear can we prevent miscalculations," she added.

She noted that both China and the US emphasized that their relations constitute the most important bilateral relationship in the world, and "they share common ground in this regard".

"The China-US ties involve the interests of not just the two countries, but the international community as well. The world hopes for cooperation between the two major countries and expects that the relations will be stable and positive," she added.

Mehmood Ul Hassan Khan, executive director of the Center for South and International Studies in Islamabad, Pakistan, said the summit was "conducive, constructive, comprehensive and cooperative", and "was the first step toward the right direction".

"Implementation of the proposed pledges and promises would stimulate bilateral cooperation in terms of trade, commerce, investments, climate change, artificial intelligence and socioeconomic development," he said.

It will also help to "have an open, transparent, stable and sustainable mechanism of open communication between the two militaries and governments. It will be helpful for global investors, businessmen and security."