In 2019, we will mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States. Over the past four decades, China-US ties have traversed a tortuous journey and kept forging ahead. The exchanges and cooperation between the two countries have scored historic achievements.

Forty years ago, only several thousand visits were made between the two countries each year. In 2017, over 5.3 million visits were made between the two sides. Forty years ago, the bilateral trade volume was less than $2.5 billion. In 2017, it surpassed $580 billion. Forty years ago, the two-way investment between China and the US was almost zero. In 2017, two-way investment in various forms amounted to over $230 billion in accumulative terms. Over the past forty years, from advancing the proper settlement of regional hot-spot issues to fighting international terrorism, from tackling the global financial crisis to promoting global growth, China and the US have conducted extensive cooperation at bilateral, regional and global levels.

Facts have fully shown that the development of China-US ties has not only delivered huge benefits to the two peoples but also contributed to peace, stability and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region and the world.

The progress achieved in the past forty years has not come by easily and experience should be derived from that. The two sides should view each other’s strategic intentions in a rational and objective manner, step up strategic communication, enhance strategic mutual trust and avoid strategic misjudgment. The two sides should stick to the general direction of bilateral cooperation and keep expanding the areas for mutually beneficial cooperation so as to deliver more benefits to the two peoples.

The two sides should respect each other’s sovereignty, security and development interests and properly manage differences in an effort to avoid disturbing the general picture of bilateral ties. The two sides should expand people-to-people exchanges to continuously cement the social foundation for China-US relations.