Editor's Note: International relations experts in the US talk about how they felt about President Xi Jinping's visit.
Robert Hormats, vice-chairman of Kissinger Associates and former under-secretary of state for economic growth, energy, and the environment from 2009 to 2013:
I think President Xi's visit went very well. A number of areas for new or deeper cooperation were identified, such as cybersecurity, bilateral investment cooperation, and increased consultation on financial and economic matters.
President Xi also described his views on how to enhance big power relations in his speech in Seattle; this deserves a high level follow-up by both sides to achieve mutual agreement on key ways to broaden and deepen relations between them, avoid misinterpreting one another's actions and adversely affecting one another's economies, and build closer ties on key issues to ensure open and fair economic competition in a well-functioning global economy.
It is clear that China and the US have much to gain from closer consultations and cooperation; the success of China's economic reforms can be beneficial to China and the US; likewise the success of the American economy in generating stronger growth and job creation can be a major positive for both the US and China.
Thus, each side should do its best to avoid actions that negatively affect the other and the global economy - on which the both depend. The discussions between Presidents Xi and Obama should improve such possibilities.
Mitchell Stanley, former chief of staff to the US Secretary of Commerce Malcolm Baldrige organizing and leading the first US Presidential Trade Mission to China in 1985:
China should use its investment potential to generate great influence on the economy, especially in the field of technology in dealing with climate change.
President Xi's visit is the first important step since Kyoto Protocol to reduce the carbon emission and put a price on carbon. China will be in the leadership to tackle the challenges from climate change and other countries can follow the lead of China.
Denis Simon, PhD, executive vice-chancellor, Duke Kunshan University:
The visit by President Xi Jinping to the US highlights the fact that inside every cloud there may lie a silver lining. Prior to the visit, there were many predictions that the visit might not yield many tangible or important results because of the apparent tensions in Sino-US relations.
Yet, the reality turned out to be quite different, especially when we look at the bilateral agreement that was reached regarding cybersecurity and the collaborative arrangement on climate change that was signed.
Equally significant was the immediate agreement for China and the US to support the exchange of 50,000 students over the coming few years. Underlying these agreements was the realization by both countries that any realistic solution for addressing the central global and regional problems of the 21st century will require some form of close Sino-US cooperation.
Both countries walked away from the visit of President Xi with a sense that they got something important from a foreign policy perspective.
Surely, this bodes well for future Sino-US relations and shows that even in the midst of some real political and economic challenges, the imperatives driving close US-China relations ruled the day.
(China Daily USA 09/29/2015 page3)