Balance common ground and competition

In retrospect, the relationship between China and the United States has basically shown an upward trend, and the bond between the two countries has rarely appeared so promising as it has since the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Beijing in November.

The first half of 2014 witnessed a dramatic nosedive in bilateral relations, thanks to trade and investment clashes and political disagreements. For Washington, China's anti-monopoly investigations, Air Defense Identification Zone over the East China Sea, and sovereignty-related clashes with some of the US' allies were sore points.

Things picked up in the second half, thanks to the two countries' efforts to melt the ice. Close high-level communications between Beijing and Washington not only eased the rising tensions, but also incubated a number of cooperative deals.