HOUSTON, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Controlling the COVID-19 pandemic and addressing climate change are excellent starting points to encourage U.S.-China cooperation and restore bilateral relationship, a U.S. political expert told Xinhua on Thursday.

Jon R. Taylor, professor and chair of the Department of Political Science and Geography at the University of Texas at San Antonio, made the remarks when commenting on the speech of Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, in a virtual conversation with board members of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations on Tuesday.

"The areas that Yang mentioned are excellent starting points to encourage China-U.S. cooperation. Immediately controlling the pandemic and addressing climate change are two of the most pressing issues on the planet," Taylor said.

Besides, he pointed out that the world's two largest economies can also find areas of cooperation and collaboration in other major challenges such as economic globalization, income inequality, terrorism, arms control, public health, food safety and trade.

China is not an adversary nor a strategic competitor in many ways to the United States, said Taylor. The two countries should recognize that while they have different political systems and differences of opinion on a host of issues, it doesn't mean that they cannot respect each other and cooperate with each other in those areas of mutual interest or concern.

"While there will be a natural level of competition, there is a need also to engage in wide-ranging cooperation on a host of issues that not only impact bilateral relations, but the whole world," he noted.

Agreeing with Yang's saying that China-U.S. relations now stand at a key point, the professor said how U.S. President Joe Biden handles bilateral relations is critical to his presidency.

In order to restore bilateral ties, Taylor hoped that the U.S. side could fix former U.S. President Donald Trump's substantial damage to cultural, academic and scientific exchanges between the two countries, immediately resume student visa approvals, stop acting like every Chinese academic and student working or studying in the United States is a spy and end the U.S. Justice Department's racially biased "China Initiative."

Taylor believed that due to the harsh rhetoric of the past four years, Biden is under bipartisan political pressure to be "tough on China," but a more mature attitude is expected.

"I think that we should expect the rhetoric on China-U.S. relations to move to a more civil tone under Biden. Respect and a willingness to agree to disagree will help," he said.