Leaders map out new path

Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Barack Obama met at a casual-style summit at the Sunnylands estate in California Friday and Saturday, mapping out a new type of ties between the world's two largest economies.

The two leaders exchanged views mostly over strategic issues on Friday and focused on bilateral economic ties on Saturday.

Neither of the presidents wore neckties during the meetings, which were billed as no-necktie and laid-back. Besides talks and discussions, the informal summit also featured a working dinner Friday and a walk at the picturesque resort on Saturday morning.

Xi told a press conference after Friday's meeting that he elaborated the Chinese dream to Obama during their talks.

"Through the Chinese dream, we seek to have economic prosperity, national renewal and the people's well-being. The Chinese dream is about peace, development, cooperation and win-win results, and it is connected to the American dream and beautiful dreams of people in other countries," the Chinese president said.

During Friday's meeting, Xi also reiterated that the Pacific Ocean is vast enough to accommodate the development of two great powers in the world.

The summit is "to map out a blueprint for the development of China-US relations and engage in cooperation across the Pacific Ocean," said Xi.

Xi said both sides can look thoroughly into three questions addressing major concerns of the bilateral relationship, namely, "What kind of a relationship do we need? What type of cooperation should China and the US have to achieve win-win results? And how can both countries work together to promote peace and development in the world?"

Obama also said he seeks "a new model of cooperation" with China, and that a strong relationship between the two largest economies is important for the world.

Bonnie Glaser, chair of China Studies at the Washington DC-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the Global Times, "The US and Chinese presidents have already agreed that their two nations should not repeat the historical pattern when rising nations have challenged existing powers, resulting in military conflict."

"So there is agreement on what the US-Chinese relationship should not be. However, there is not yet a shared understanding as to what the relationship should be - in positive terms," said Glaser, adding "it will be challenging to define this."

Douglas Paal, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, also a Washington DC-based think tank, told the Global Times that the US tends to think "this new kind of relationship means China will not choose to challenge the US role in the world" while China "may want the US to yield more of its role to China, peacefully but significantly more than the US is ready to concede."

Stanley Rosen, a political science professor at the University of Southern California, told the Global Times the expression of a new model to foster bilateral ties "reflects China's quest for more respect from the US in terms of its legitimate rights and interests in the global order, starting with but not limited to what China has defined as its core interests."

Jin Canrong, an associate dean with the School of International Studies at the Renmin University of China, interpreted the new model as China being "a reformer instead of a revolutionary" in the US-dominated global system and shouldering more international responsibilities.

"Meanwhile, Washington must treat Beijing as its equal," Jin told the Global Times on Saturday.

"The discussions and agreements - and disagreements - at this summit will likely have a lasting impact on the relationship since this meeting is unprecedented," Rosen said.

"This is indeed a special meeting," Susan Shirk, chair of the 21st Century China Program at the University of California, San Diego, told the Global Times.

Xi told a press conference after Friday's meeting that he and Obama would keep close contact by various means.

"I invited President Obama to come to China at a convenient time for a new round of meetings," Xi said, revealing that the Chinese defense minister and foreign minister will visit the US at Washington's invitation.

Local residents near Sunnylands expressed their good wishes for nurturing future ties between the two countries.

Roberta Alexander, a painting contractor living in Coachella, told the Global Times that "the rising power of China is happening in front of our eyes," but she believes the US and China "can coexist because we are both countries of peace and goodwill."