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.

That 10 months elapsed before a meeting was scheduled between Xi Jinping and Joe Biden — who had met frequently in the past — reflects the complexity of the bilateral relationship. But the recent virtual summit may have helped thaw the ice.

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.

This week’s much-anticipated meeting between President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden offers welcome relief for a world nervously watching where the 21st century’s most consequential relationship is headed.

A major question with respect to China-U.S. relation has not been answered since it was first raised a few years ago: What are they fighting for? If this cannot be answered to the satisfaction of reasonable people, shouldn’t they just sit down and get on with pragmatic dialogue?

Both sides seem to realize that a paradigm shift in bilateral ties is inevitable and underway. And if it’s not controlled — if it slides toward confrontation — neither party will be served. It should be a footrace, not a wrestling match, President Xi Jinping wisely said.

Progress should not be in perception alone but should translate to real action. There is reason for optimism after three rounds of discussion — in Anchorage, Tianjin and Zurich — yet it appears the Biden administration is not yet ready to fundamentally change Donald Trump’s anti-China policy.

Dialogue is always better than confrontation. The Zurich talks may lead to a virtual presidential meeting and more frequent strategic discussion between the two countries to gradually change the negative narrative of competition. A solid foundation must be built one step at a time, and each opportunity seized.

As US President Joe Biden’s administration implements its strategy of great power competition with China, analysts seek historical metaphors to explain the deepening rivalry. But while many invoke the onset of the Cold War, a more worrisome historical metaphor is the start of World War I. In 1914, all the great powers expected a short third Balkan War. Instead, as the British historian Christopher Clark has shown, they sleepwalked into a conflagration that lasted four years, destroyed four empires, and killed millions.