Historical contacts between leaders of China and U.S.

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Since the establishment of diplomatic ties on January 1, 1979, the China-U.S. relationship has been moving forward steadily despite some twists and turns.

Extensive exchanges and cooperation in politics

Since China and the U.S. resumed contact, the two sides have seen frequent high-level visits and improving dialogue mechanisms.

Deng Xiaoping meets with Ronald Reagan at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, April 28,1984. /Photo from china-embassy.org

In January 1979, then Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping visited the U.S., opening a new page in China-U.S. relations.

Among the U.S. presidents who have traveled to China, George W. Bush, the son of George W.H. Bush and the 43rd U.S. president, visited China the most.

In recent years, high-level exchanges of visits have been frequent between the two countries.

Jiang Zemin and George W. Bush are at the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Shanghai, October 2001. /Photo from china-embassy.org

In November 2009, then U.S. President Barack Obama paid a state visit to China, while Chinese President Hu Jintao reciprocated the gesture in a state visit to the U.S. in 2011. Both sides issued joint statements during the visits.

They also made the strategic decision to work together to build a China-U.S. cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and mutual benefit, charting the direction of China-U.S. relations.

Significant meetings between Chinese and U.S. leaders since 1979. /CGTN's Fan Chenxiao

In June 2013, three months after he took over the Chinese presidency, Xi Jinping traveled to the U.S. state of California and held a no-necktie summit with Obama.

Xi's second trip to the country as head of state came in 2015, when he arrived in Seattle for his first state visit to the U.S.

In November 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump visited China, also his first visit to the country since he assumed the presidency in January.

The recent meeting between the pair took place at a working dinner in Argentina during the G20 summit on December 1, 2018.

Fruitful outcomes from exchanges

Based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, China and the U.S. issued the Joint Communique of the People's Republic of China and the United States of America (Shanghai Communique) on February 29, 1972, the Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between the People's Republic of China and the United States of America on December 16, 1978, and the August 17 Joint Communique of 1982.

Xi, Trump hold phone conversation on Argentina consensus

The three joint communiques are the foundation for China and the U.S. to develop stable, sound and normal bilateral relations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump in Buenos Aires, Argentina, December 1, 2018. /Xinhua Photo

During then Chinese President Jiang Zemin's visit to the U.S. in 1997, the two sides issued the China-U.S. Joint Statement.

In 2006, the establishment of a China-U.S. economic strategic dialogue was established, according to a consensus between the two presidents.

After the conclusion of the 13th summit of the Group of 20 in Argentina, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump had an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and international issues of common concern in a friendly and candid atmosphere at a working dinner, reaching important consensus and agreeing not to impose new additional tariffs.

(Cover image by CGTN's Li Wenyi)