How Ping-pong diplomacy broke the mold

Shanghai's key role

In recent decades, Shanghai, a must-visit destination for many foreigners, has witnessed a series of memorable events testifying to China's advancing and changing interactions with the US.

The city hosted both the US table tennis team in 1971 and Nixon the following year.

According to veteran diplomats, interactions between China and the US in Shanghai, and what they have achieved in the city in past decades, are part of the two countries' shared legacy and are lessons that need to be passed on.

The diplomats said the two countries' policymakers also need to keep cool heads, develop new policy approaches and bolster mutual engagement to ensure that bilateral problematic and rapidly changing issues do not spiral into a crisis or dampen either nation's growth prospects.

At the end of Nixon's historic trip, the Chinese and US governments issued the Shanghai Communique－the first landmark bilateral joint statement that served as a prelude to them establishing diplomatic relations in 1979.