Xi, Obama's meeting to further define bilateral ties

Chinese experts said the upcoming summit between President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Barack Obama will clarify bilateral relations in a broad sense.

The Foreign Ministry announced earlier this week that the two leaders will meet from June 7 to 8 in California's Sunnylands following Xi's visit to three Latin American states. It will be their first meeting since Xi took office in March.

Differing from previous meetings between the two countries' leaders, the upcoming summit will take place at the Walter and Leonore Annenberg estate, a desert retreat known as the "West Coast's Camp David."

Jin Canrong, a professor at Renmin University, said the informal arrangement will create a more relaxed atmosphere that will allow for more in-depth exchanges.

"If both sides feel distant, they will pay more attention to the form of the exchange, but if they are familiar, they can focus more on efficiency," added Jin.

Tao Wenzhao, a fellow at the Institute of American Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), said smaller meetings typically result in more substantial discussions.

U.S. presidents have a custom of meeting leaders in informal locations, of which the most famous is Camp David, where Franklin Roosevelt discussed the Normandy campaign with Winston Churchill in 1943.