Backgrounder: China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue

Senior Chinese and U.S. officials will meet for the sixth round of China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) in Beijing on Wednesday and Thursday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony of the events and deliver a speech. Xi and Premier Li Keqiang will then meet the U.S. delegations.

The S&ED will be co-chaired by Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang and State Councilor Yang Jiechi, as well as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew.

This year's strategic dialogue covers a wide range of topics of domestic and foreign policy, including climate change, science and innovation, Sudan and South Sudan, UN peacekeeping and the illegal trade in animals and plants, as well as interactions in the Asia-Pacific region.

The following are some key facts about the dialogue:

On April 1, 2009, former Chinese President Hu Jintao and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed to establish the mechanism of China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue during their first meeting in London on the sidelines of the G20 financial summit.

Since then, five rounds of the dialogue have been held, with the first in Washington in July 2009, the second in Beijing in May 2010, the third in Washington in May 2011, the fourth in Beijing in May 2012, and the fifth in Washington in July 2013.

The dialogue mechanism combined and replaced the China-U.S. Strategic Dialogue and China-U.S. Strategic Economic Dialogue, which had both played a major role in strengthening the China-U.S. ties.

China-U.S. Strategic dialogue, initiated by former President Hu Jintao and former U.S. President George W. Bush in 2004, was held six times.

China-U.S. Strategic Economic Dialogue was inaugurated by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and former Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi in Beijing in September 2006. The biennial event was held five times.

Since the establishment of the two mechanisms, China and the United States have conducted effective dialogues on issues of strategic importance.

The ever evolving China-U.S. relations and the changing international situation have added to the urgency of furthering the cooperation and communication between the two countries.