The meeting between the American and Chinese presidents in June is the most important summit meeting on the diplomatic calendar this year, writes David Shambaugh.

While the U.S. pivot to Asia’s impact on Sino-U.S. relations receives widespread attention, a significant risk to bilateral relations can be seen through China’s interventions in Latin America. As Fernando Menéndez explains, China is creating a counterbalance to U.S. actions in the Asia-Pacific by heavily investing in countries like Brazil and Venezuela.

China and the United States of America have recently announced almost simultaneously the June 7-8 summit between President Xi Jinping and President Barack Obama at the Annenberg estate at Rancho Mirage, California, which has caught worldwide attention. No doubt, the forthcoming summit will have extraordinary importance to China-US relationship and to world stability and development.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica and Mexico and hold a meeting with US President Barack Obama at Sunnylands, the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Estate in California. This will be a new important step in the full swing of Chinese diplomacy since the new leadership took office.

An earlier Xi-Obama summit, writes Qian Liwei, is expected to pave the way for a more positive, mature and predictable Sino-U.S. relations based on mutual respect, reciprocal benefit and win-win co-operation.

This is a crucial moment for Sino-U.S. relations, as heated debates about the future of this relationship rage in both countries -- debates characterized by downright pessimism, with only a sliver of optimism.

The combination of the U.S. pivot to Asia and the reemergence of nationalism in Japan has created tension in the Asia-Pacific region. As China continues to feel threatened by the close relations between the U.S. and Japan, Wu Zurong points out that irritants to Sino-U.S. relations will hurt the Asia-Pacific as a whole.

Recently, US foreign policy experts have argued that China’s military power presents major implications for the US and Japan’s ability to maintain regional stability. However, Stephen Harner argues the US and Japan must recognize the changing geopolitical landscape in the Asia-Pacific and recognize the dangers of the current security order.

In a speech delivered at the Tokyo Institute of Technology on April 15th, US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke of America’s “Pacific Dream”. However, a looming question remained. What does the “Pacific Dream” of the US mean for Xi Jinping's China dream?

Kerry’s latest visit to China and other prior visits by Obama administration’s high-ranking civilian and military officials has shown that the bilateral relationship between the US and China has safely passed the transition period and will gain greater momentum in its development.