Steve Orlins, president of the National Committee on US-China Relations, pledged on Monday to continue strengthening ties between the United States and Chinese peoples, following last week's meeting between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC.

Orlins, who has been the committee's president since 2005, spoke at a reception held at the Chinese Consulate General in New York to mark the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Orlins said that he would leave his post in less than two months. Career diplomat Sarah Beran will succeed him on Nov 10, the committee said in a news release in June.

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"But my desire to fight for what is good for the American and Chinese people remains the same as it was the day I arrived around the 30th anniversary of the founding of the PRC, and I will maintain that commitment after I step down," Orlins said.

Speaking at the reception, Chen Li, Chinese consul general in New York, said that President Xi had completed his first state visit to the United States in 11 years, and that the exchange of state visits within half a year was "unprecedented" in the history of bilateral relations.

Building on their Beijing summit in May, the leaders agreed to build a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability based on respect, fairness and reciprocity.

Chen said Xi's visit offered a clearer answer to the enduring question of how China and the US should manage their relationship as major powers.

Chen noted that ties would not always be smooth, given the weight of history and the complexity of the two countries' interests, but added that "history is not destiny".

From the "handshake across the Pacific" that opened the door to engagement more than half a century ago, to the current efforts to find a new path for relations between major countries, both nations and the international landscape have changed, Chen said.

What has endured is the practical need for peaceful coexistence, the two peoples' desire for friendship and the international community's interest in stable China-US relations, he added.

Echoing Chen, Orlins said that the visits by both presidents were "extraordinary" and described last week's meeting as "a very pro-constructive engagement meeting".

He noted that when the leaders met, they shared the vision of cooperation, and that at the White House state dinner for Xi on Thursday evening, Trump toasted a future of "harmony, peace and success" for the people of both countries.

"We all should have sat there and said yes, yes, yes," Orlins said. "It's good for the United States. It's good for China, and it's good for the world."

Orlins served in the US Department of State's Office of the Legal Adviser from 1976 to 1979 and was a member of the legal team that helped to establish diplomatic relations with China, according to his biography on the committee's website.

Reflecting on China's transformation in the 47 years since the two countries forged diplomatic relations, Orlins recalled arriving in Beijing around the 30th anniversary of the founding of the PRC.

On the drive from the old Capital Airport to the Beijing Hotel at about 1 am, he passed by ox carts and bicycles, but no other cars.

"Can you imagine today when you arrive at 1 o'clock?" he said. "You're lucky if you don't have a traffic jam."

A native New Yorker, Orlins compared the familiar look of Manhattan's Upper East Side with parts of Beijing where he said farmland had given way to 90-story buildings.

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He also described expanded access to electricity and primary education, alongside advances in solar energy, wind power and electric vehicles, noting that the transitions have been "simply unimaginable".

On a recent visit to a Xiaomi factory in Beijing, Orlins said he found that it covered more than 650,000 square meters, but operated with a relatively small workforce.

"This is the future, and China, in many ways, is leading the way," he said.

He concluded his remarks by quoting Xi in Chinese, and then translated the line into English: Never forget why you started, and you can accomplish your mission.

Contact the writers at huanxinzhao@chinadailyusa.com