2015年CRI Xi's Visit to Strengthen Major-power Ties with U.S.: Experts

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Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the United States is set to be his first state visit to the country since taking office in 2013.

Da Wei, director of US Research with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, says trust-building is going to be key.

"The visit will help tell the US who President Xi Jinping is, as well as what kind of leader he is. It will also help answer questions about where is China going. The president has already sent out answers to these questions at both the Sunnylands meeting in California and the Yingtai talks in Beijing. But this time, the visit will also send a messages to the American business community, the think tanks and the American people. It will tell them about China's reforms and development."

Although the China-US relationship has been seeing steady improvement, challenges such as the South China Sea and cyber security still remain key sticking points.

Ruan Zongze, formerly¹ with the Chinese embassy in the US, and now with the China Institute of International Studies, says he believes these issues are something the two sides can overcome.

"Cyber security is a common concern for China and the US. Both can work together to make changes to help one-another when it comes to cyber security. The two sides can also work to make their shared views applicable to other countries and non-state actors as well. So the best way to approach this issue is through talking, and not through sanctions."

Ruan Zongze also says he believes Xi Jinping's time in the US will be an opportunity to push forward talks on the Bilateral² Investment Treaty, which started seven years ago.

"China and the U.S. have held twenty rounds of BIT talks so far. Both sides will continue with the negotiations³. We don't think the talks will be concluded soon. But at least we can expect further progress during the President's time in the US."

Xi Jinping and Barack Obama sat down with one-another in June of 2013, with both leaders saying they want to create a relationship which will avoid confrontation⁴.

Professor Robert Keobane with Princeton University says he believes the momentum⁵ from the previous talks should carry over into this round of discussions.

"I think it will be very productive. They are two very serious leaders who both have huge interests in cooperating with each other as well as the discord⁶ we talked about. They know they have to work out differences of interests as well as commonalities. Neither of them is inclined toward making radical⁷ statements that make things worse. So I expect it will be a very productive visit."

Beyond cyber security and economics, the two are also expected to discuss military relations, counter-terrorism and climate change.