Head-of-state diplomacy expected to deliver greater stability, stronger confidence and a longer-term outlook to businesses in China, US

As changes unseen in a century accelerate and uncertainties continue to grow around the world, President Xi Jinping's state visit to the United States from Wednesday to Friday is expected to bring greater stability and predictability to China-US relations and beyond.

The two countries' ties have been widely regarded as the world's most important bilateral relationship. More than 50 years ago, leaders from both countries — with remarkable courage and political vision — took the historic step of breaking the ice. Since then, the relationship has repeatedly found a way forward despite tensions and setbacks, with head-of-state diplomacy consistently providing strategic guidance.

In recent years, China-US ties have weathered ups and downs. How the world's two major countries manage their relationship matters far beyond their own borders.

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When hosting US President Donald Trump in Beijing in May, President Xi underscored the responsibilities shouldered by both countries in these changing times.

"Can China and the US overcome the Thucydides Trap and create a new paradigm of major-country relations? Can we meet global challenges together and provide greater stability for the world? Can we build a bright future together for our bilateral relations in the interest of the wellbeing of the two peoples and the future of humanity? These are the questions vital to history, to the world and to the people," Xi said.

Xi has repeatedly said that the Pacific Ocean is vast enough to embrace both China and the US. He has also urged the two sides to be partners and friends, and work together to accomplish more great and concrete things for the good of the two countries and the whole world.

Since Trump's return to the White House in 2025, the two leaders have stayed in close contact, speaking over the phone many times, exchanging letters on several occasions and meeting face-to-face twice since late last year.

"I look forward to working together with you to set the course and steer the giant ship of China-US relations, so as to make 2026 a historic, landmark year that opens up a new chapter in China-US relations," Xi said during his meeting with Trump in May.

It was during their Beijing meeting that the two leaders agreed on a new vision of building a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability, providing strategic guidance for bilateral ties over the next three years and beyond.

"The building of a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability should not be a mere slogan, but concrete action taken by both sides toward the same goal," Xi said.

He outlined "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.

Sean Stein, president of the US-China Business Council, or USCBC, said the most important thing that comes out of such high-level dialogue is that "when the two leaders meet, they're able to build trust; and when they build trust, then everything else becomes easier".

Win-win cooperation

As China and the US share broad common interests and vast potential for cooperation, Xi has emphasized the need to expand mutually beneficial cooperation, strengthen dialogue and consultation, and turn shared interests into concrete outcomes.

During his meeting with Trump in May, Xi noted that China-US economic ties are mutually beneficial and win-win in nature.

Trump was accompanied on his visit to China by top US executives, including Apple's Tim Cook, Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Tesla's Elon Musk, whom he called outstanding representatives from the US business community.

"China will only open its door wider," Xi said during the meeting, adding that US companies are deeply involved in China's reform and opening-up, and the US side is welcome to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation.

"As the world's two largest, most dynamic and most technologically advanced economies, it's just impossible for the US and Chinese economies to function as well without a strong and viable relationship with the other, so it's absolutely essential," said Stein, from the USCBC.

Despite frictions and challenges, China-US trade has demonstrated strong resilience. In the second quarter of 2026, the value of bilateral trade in goods increased 13.7 percent year-on-year. And as of July, US companies had established more than 84,000 enterprises in China.

"What has happened demonstrates yet again that the description of China-US cooperation benefiting both sides and confrontation hurting both sides reflects a common sense that has been repeatedly proven by experience, and the vision of China and the United States helping each other succeed and prosper together is a tangible prospect within reach," Xi said in a phone conversation with Trump last year.

This year marks the launch of China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) for economic and social development, and the 250th founding anniversary of the US. As both countries enter pivotal stages of their respective development, new opportunities for cooperation are emerging.

In July, a delegation of Chinese business leaders traveled to Salt Lake City, Chicago and Washington, DC, where they met with representatives of more than 120 US companies and organizations. Their discussions underscored that the appetite for cooperation remains strong.

Across the US business community, there is growing recognition of the vast potential for Chinese and US companies to work together in cutting-edge fields, from green energy and the digital economy to artificial intelligence and biomedicine.

Kate Sullivan, executive director of the Greater Columbus Chinese Chamber of Commerce, pointed to Illuminate USA, a joint-venture solar panel manufacturer in the US state of Ohio, as a success story of China-US cooperation.

"It is the epitome of advanced manufacturing in the state of Ohio, drawing on multiple strengths of Chinese manufacturing and supply chains," she said. "It makes sense for the US and China to be in business together. It's not an emotional decision there. It's business. Supply and demand."

Looking ahead, business representatives also voiced expectations for a more stable environment for bilateral cooperation.

"We hope the two heads of state will maintain strategic communication, bringing greater stability, stronger confidence and a longer-term outlook to markets and businesses in both countries," said Wang Qi, chairman of the US-China Green Energy Council.

People-to-people exchanges

Xi has consistently emphasized that the foundation and future of China-US relations ultimately lie in the connections between the two peoples.

"Though geographically far apart, our peoples boast a long history of friendly exchanges," Xi said in a speech at a welcoming dinner hosted by local governments and friendly organizations in Seattle in 2015.

Over the years, Xi has maintained close personal ties with people from all walks of life in the US. In 2015, Xi visited Lincoln High School in the US port city of Tacoma. Without a tie, he presented gifts to the students, including books on China, a ping-pong table, and his personal invitation for the students to visit China.

In 2023, before the Welcome Dinner by Friendly Organizations in San Francisco, Xi met with veterans of the Flying Tigers and descendants of late General Joseph Stilwell, whose stories have become an important part of the history of China-US friendship.

In 2024, in his reply to a letter from Lamont Repollet, president of Kean University in the US state of New Jersey, Xi encouraged universities in China and the US to strengthen exchanges and cooperation and contribute to China-US friendship.

During Spring Festival this year, Xi replied to friends in the US state of Iowa and sent them a Chinese New Year card with festive greetings, continuing their warm exchange of New Year wishes for the third consecutive year.

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In 2023, during his visit to San Francisco, Xi announced that China was ready to invite 50,000 young Americans to China for exchange and study programs over the next five years. "We hope that our two peoples will make more visits, contacts and exchanges and write new stories of friendship in the new era," he said.

The invitation was warmly received by young people in the US. In just over two-and-a-half years, more than 50,000 young people from all 50 US states have traveled to China.

Their trips have taken them to different parts of the country. They have toured smart factories, visited rural communities and experienced everyday life in places far from home. For many, their travels have also led to new friendships with Chinese peers.

"I am particularly grateful to President Xi for his initiative of'50,000 in five years'. I think that is possibly one of the most consequential initiatives in the last 20 years," said Luca Berrone, from Iowa, who has been friends with Xi for four decades.

"I believe that people-to-people exchanges, particularly between China and the US, are fundamental in continuing to strengthen the relationship, to improve understanding and acceptance," Berrone added.