The 11th China-U.S. Political Party Leaders Dialogue took place in Beijing on Monday.  

Senior officials from the Communist Party of China (CPC) met with a delegation of U.S. Democratic and Republican Party leaders to discuss opportunities for the China-U.S. relationship.  

Both sides believe the exchange will lead to better cooperation agreements and come up with practical solutions to challenges. 

Song Tao, minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, delivered a speech during the opening ceremony.  

Song said: "The wisdom of the two countries' political leaders has contributed to the development of China-U.S. ties. Win-win and mutually beneficial are the nature of bilateral relations of our two countries. Trade volume between China and the U.S. has grown 252 times from less than 2.5 billion U.S. dollars when diplomatic ties were established, to more than 630 billion U.S. dollars in 2018." 

Political elites from China and the U.S. engaged in frank discussions on topics including policy trends, trade, and governance and enhancing opportunities for economic cooperation. The dialogue provided a platform for both sides to get on the same page to exchange views on issues that matter to the mutual welfare of both nations.

Many say the dialogue could not be better-timed, as this year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, and there is much more both can learn from each other. 

K.T. McFarland, former U.S. deputy national security adviser, said: "My preference and desire is for the Chinese-U.S. relationship to continue to be a very strong relationship. It's the most important relationship; it's the most important relationship for the U.S."

Gary Locke, former U.S. commerce secretary, said: "The entire world looks to leadership from both China and the U.S. working together, so many of the issues facing the world cannot be solved by China or the U.S. alone, only together. That's why we need to quickly resolve this trade dispute. But in order to really solve the trade dispute, we have to address the underlying issues that give rise to the trade dispute, which means understanding different perspectives of both sides so that we can reach a resolution."

William Parker, CEO and president of the EastWest Institute, said: "What we are continuing to learn is through this 11th event that we have over the years, is understanding each other's culture, understanding how each other look at certain problems and certain issues, and more importantly, looking at where we can come together to continue to work on issues to resolve the issues whether it is counter-terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, many of the diseases that we both face, not only our two countries, but also the rest of the world, and how the global economy is impacted by us."