A new test for bilateral ties

China and US can break traditional cycle of conflict between two powers if they establish a partnership on mutual respect

During his visit to the United States in January, President Hu Jintao agreed with his US counterpart Barack Obama to establish Sino-US cooperative partnership on the basis of mutual respect, reciprocity and mutual benefit, and made some concrete arrangements for further development of bilateral relations.

Since then, the two countries have held another round of high-level talks on people-to-people exchange, the third round of Strategic and Economic Dialogue and the first-ever talks on bilateral affairs in the Asia-Pacific region. The mutual visits by their chiefs of general staff have resumed the suspended military exchanges between the two countries and are widely seen as a crucial step toward developing healthy ties.