On Tuesday, senior ASEAN diplomats gathered in Yunnan for a special foreign ministers' meeting with their Chinese counterparts. The idea came from ASEAN countries, the turnout was impressive, and the retreat was deemed "timely and important". Amidst media speculation that the discussion pitted ASEAN against China, it will be useful to take a step back and examine the larger picture.

Rather than doubting the sincerity of corporate executives who create new technologies that propel the China-U.S. relationship forward, Carson Tavenner and Tom Watkins propose listening to non-profit leaders, educators, and other China-America bridge-builders who search for cooperative solutions while building trust and honesty between people.

China is unswervingly committed to its path of peaceful development, and believes China and the US can cultivate a state-to-state relationship featuring long-term peaceful co-existence against a new historical background. Seeking common ground while shelving differences is an effective, important principle that has served both countries well and would continue to do so in the future.

The presidents of the two nation took stock of the bilateral relationship and concluded that common interests are much more important than differences, thus securing a sound and steady growth of the China-US relationship. For some reason, that reality is not easy for many pundits, politicians and media observers to grasp, resulting in diminished expectations despite evidence to the contrary.

S&ED is a means to help stabilize and improve partnership. However, when each’s strategic interests differ or even collide, a dialogue will not be able to resolve the problem. The best the dialogue could do is to assure that each side will take sensible decisions, ideally through mutual concession. This is what the S&ED of the Obama era has been about.

As the U.K. is preparing for the EU referendum, both Washington and Beijing would like London to remain in the EU. Yet, the outcome is not under their control, despite the potential for regional, even global collateral damage.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee insists that promoting democracy where it’s neither familiar nor welcome has been a foolish US policy. But abandoning the norms and institutions established after World War II will diminish not only US global leadership but also the entire international system – not good news in an era of weakening global economic development and uncertain international and regional security.

We have an inescapable responsibility – a shared duty – to lead in the direction of stability, prosperity, and peace. And it is up to us and to our successors to ensure that America and China are more partners than rivals, more in agreement than disagreement about the rule of law, more in harmony than at odds over priorities, and more confident with each passing year in each other’s intentions.

For China and the US, we need to maintain frequent communication and build up strategic mutual trust in order to avoid strategic misjudgment and prevent temporary problems from affecting our overall relations. With sufficient mutual trust, China-US cooperation will stand on a more solid basis and enjoy even more robust growth.

China has no ambition to dominate Asia or the world, and Washington must resist misconstruing China’s development strategies and policies. It is imperative that the two countries dispel misgivings and strengthen communication, deepen understanding and mutual trust, in order to build a new type of major-country relations featuring non-confrontation, non-conflict and win-win cooperation.