Last week’s APEC summit in Beijing served as a major coming-out party for President Xi Jinping’s “one belt, one road” plan: the Silk Road Economic Belt and

The November 11 bilateral summit between Presidents Xi Jinping and Barack Obama in Beijing was a welcome step forward in Sino-American relations. While some tensions were evident behind the scenes and during the two leaders’ joint press conference, on balance the two sides accomplished a lot in one day of summitry.

After more than a year of increasingly scratchy relations between the United States and China, Presidents Barack Obama and Xi Jinping managed to strike a markedly improved tone and announce some accomplishments at the Asia Pacific Economic Forum (APEC), writes Douglas Paal.

China’s “One Belt, One Road” strategy is Xi’s new scheme to effectively interconnect the trade routes between China and the rest of the world. The United States need not consider it a hegemonic challenge, but rather work to collaborate in the region’s common development.

In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled plans for two massive trade and infrastructure networks connecting East Asia with Europe: the New Silk Road (also

Reflecting on the recent joint naval exercises between Iran and China, Michal Meidan explores how the strategic relationship between the two nations involves more than just oil and discusses how US-led sanctions against Iran continue to complicate geopolitics.

Shao analyzes the US’ “New Silk Road Initiative” and China’s “Silk Road Economic Belt,”and concludes that though having differences, they go in the same direction: acceleration of regional economic cooperation.

To debunk the “String of Pearls” theory, Zhou Bo writes that China has only two purposes in the Indian Ocean: economic gains and the security of Sea lines of Communication.

Xi-Li diplomacy worked well in 2013, writes Zhai Kun. A successful 2014 will rely more on the coordination of its twin engines of development and security promotion.

There is inevitable concern that the Chinese Silk Road plan will not be compatible with the US one, and there will be increasing competition between China and the US in Central Asia, writes Su Xiaohui.