China-U.S. relations face both opportunities and challenges. At least within this year, and particularly given the three forthcoming meetings between the two heads of state, the opportunities outweigh the challenges as relations continue to move forward.

For China, a prerequisite is characterizing the overall kind of relationship the two sides have before specific issues can be discussed. The United States has often taken the opposite approach, starting with results in specific areas, then expand. Now the two sides seem to be nudging closer.

Although small-scale rivalry and periodic tactical bargaining are likely to persist, a new equilibrium characterized by institutionalized cooperation—and occasional issue-specific divergence—may gradually emerge as the new normal in China-U.S. economic and trade relations.

The meeting of two presidents created a certain degree of stability and opened up possibilities for cooperation, but China-U.S. relations remain fundamentally fragile. Nudging the relationship in a constructive direction will require that both countries continue in good faith.

Trump’s trip to China signals the start of a new trade relationship, anchored in good economic fundamentals that are solid, stable and sustainable. Both countries stand to benefit, as does the rest of the world in terms of peace and prosperity.

The May 14-15 summit meeting in Beijing between Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump resulted in some badly needed stabilization in bilateral relations. Both the symbols and the substance of the visit suggest a return to some normalcy of regularized interactions and the ability of the two leaders and their teams to discuss some of the most sensitive issues between the two sides. Even if detailed agreements are not reached (and not many were) there is still considerable value in such direct exchanges.

China-U.S. relations involve the well-being of some 8 billion people worldwide. Both sides, therefore, need to safeguard their hard-won stability. They should honor their commitments and move toward each other to create favorable conditions for building a more promising future.

As discussions grow around the upcoming visit by U.S. President Donald Trump, much attention has focused on tariffs, trade, and semiconductors. Many expect that artificial intelligence will also feature prominently on the agenda.

Looking back over the past period, even as technological competition between China and the U.S. has intensified, the two sides have also made some constructive progress in cooperation on artificial intelligence (AI).

Labeling China as part of an “Axis of Chaos” misrepresents its strategy by overstating its alignment with other U.S. adversaries and wrongly implying that it seeks global instability. China’s power and the challenge it poses to the United States instead stem primarily from its deep integration and central role in the global economy, not from fostering chaos or acting as part of a unified anti-U.S. bloc.