Xi-Obama summit boosts mutual trust, understanding

The first summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama, boosted mutual trust and understanding between the world's two largest economies, experts worldwide have said. The overall tone of the meeting was "positive," said Douglas H. Paal, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington-based foreign policy think tank. The talks were aimed at shaping a broad framework on how to deal with a number of major issues between the two nations, and addressing the question of what kind of relationship they want to build, Paal said. Paal also said he hoped the two leaders' emerging personal relationship will help smooth over tensions on the Korean Peninsula and lead to further discussions on long-term stability and denuclearization in that area. Ukrainian international relations expert Denis Necheporuk said the summit, the first of its kind between the two leaders, will boost the two countries' partnership, which would be favorable to world stability. Developing a new type of Sino-U.S. relationship on the basis of mutual respect, equality and reconciliation is important to the two big countries, Necheporuk said. "America and China are the world's superpowers. Of course, their cooperative and comprehensive relationship will benefit the whole global politics," Necheporuk added. Joergen Delman, a professor in China Studies at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies at the University of Copenhagen, said that the main achievement of the meeting was that it demonstrated to the world and to the peoples of China and the United States that the leaders of the two countries are keen on building mutual trust and finding common stands on some of the thorny issues that often dominate their bilateral relationship. The professor said it is encouraging that the interest in continuing the ongoing collaboration in key policy arenas such as economy, energy, environment and the military were confirmed. Carsten Boyer Thogersen, a former consul general of Denmark in Shanghai and a fellow researcher of the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies at the University of Copenhagen, said that what can be hoped for after the summit is that the relationship between China and the United States goes from strong competition to "co-opetition," meaning that both countries keep a close dialogue and are willing to solve disputes and differences through consultation and compromise. Nunziante Mastrolia of the European Centre for International Affairs, also a researcher at the Military Center for Strategic Studies of Italy, highlighted the "informal character" of the summit. The face-to-face talks promote mutual understanding, which could reduce one's negative evaluations of the other's motives and avoid escalation of tensions, he said. "They ... discussed together the issues that two great powers have to face in order to create a healthier and less competitive global environment, Mastrolia said. Giuseppe Gabusi, a professor of political economy at the University of Trin and a researcher at the Torino World Affairs Institute, said the two countries' willingness to step up military cooperation was one of the noteworthy elements of the meeting. It is essential for Washington and Beijing to build mutual trust and transparency, he said. The meeting was a first step to show a proactive manner to redefine the world's most important bilateral relationship for a better future, the Italian expert said. French lawmaker Julien Aubert said the meeting between the two presidents was "the prelude of a new century," in which the world's two major countries reached cordial understanding between them.