President Joe Biden inherited his predecessor’s strategy of great power competition, but he has now changed its style and approach. No longer is it “America alone” but a new method making better use of its values, position in global governance and strategic alliances.

The future of Sino-American relations rests with maximising the yield of what can be changed, and minimising the relevance of what can’t be changed. The multitude of differences that the U.S. and China can’t resolve must be set aside to allow for genuine change to take place.

While the United States talks about the need to prevent conflict with China, it engages purposefully in sabotage — especially regarding Taiwan and the South China Sea. While nations can design mechanisms to deal with unforeseen events, no guardrail can prevent a deliberate act.

President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping finally talked, but now comes the hard work of resolving differences and managing others to maintain the world’s most important bilateral relationship.

Though Xi Jingping’s absence from Glasgow’s COP26 summit has been roundly criticized, the virtual one-on-one summit between Xi and Joe Biden may have produced more actions of consequence, at a fraction of the cost.

China and the United States should move forward without delay and show visible results as soon as possible in areas of agreement. Where they differ, they should adopt sound crisis management mechanisms and strive to find compromises that meet the demands of both sides.

The virtual summit between presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden began on a friendly note. But one can predict that the relationship between China and the United States may not go so smoothly in the future. There are likely to be storms and difficult struggles.

While no major agreements were made during the latest summit between Presidents Xi and Biden, the meeting represented a refreshing commitment to high-level engagement between China and the United States.

By having their first direct bilateral face-to-face summit meeting, Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping tried to build a floor under the tense and deteriorating U.S.-China relationship, as well as to erect some “guardrails” for managing the competitive relationship. Both sides reported it as a positive step forward.

Two presidents take a stand against a new cold war in a virtual summit. The old friends sought to renew relations and move forward — accepting competition but shunning conflict. How to achieve that is the big question.