Interview: Xi-Trump summit raises expectations for greater global stability: scholar

U.S. President Donald Trump holds a welcome ceremony for Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is on a state visit to the United States, at the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States, Sept. 24, 2026. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

SINGAPORE, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The recent summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump has added new substance to the constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability, raising expectations for greater stability around the world, a public policy scholar has said.

By agreeing to build "a constructive relationship of strategic stability based on respect, fairness and reciprocity," the two presidents have provided a paradigm for countries to resolve differences fairly, said Gu Qingyang, an associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, in an interview with Xinhua.

The new vision shows that China and the United States are willing to resolve differences on the basis of respecting each other's development paths and core interests, while allowing reasonable room for each other's development and taking into account the common interests of both countries and the wider world, he said.

It also reflects a commitment to treating each other as equal partners, pursuing mutual benefit and balancing rights and obligations, Gu said.

"It offers new ideas for a complex international environment and gives a troubled world a reassuring anchor of stability," Gu said, noting that countries, regardless of size or strength, should resolve differences and manage disputes through consultation on an equal footing rather than through zero-sum competition.

Gu said Xi's remarks that building a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability is neither an expedient measure nor something that can be achieved overnight reflects a key feature of China's approach to relations with the United States: a long-term perspective.

It requires action of all sectors, across all fields and at all levels in the two countries while looking to lasting engagement across generations, he said, citing Xi's invitation for 100,000 young Americans to visit China for exchanges and study programs over the next five years.

Students of Lincoln High School of the U.S. state of Washington and Beijing National Day School take selfies during the NFL FLAG China-U.S. Youth Flag Football Exchange Event & Lincoln High School 2025 China Tour in Beijing, capital of China, May 26, 2025. (Xinhua/Li He)

This is, in effect, about engaging younger generations and building lasting ties between the people of the two countries, Gu said.

"China and the United States, as two major countries, need to engage across all fronts to understand each other's concerns and interests, and build a relationship in which their interests are mutually reinforcing," he said.

ASEAN countries welcome candid dialogue between China and the United States and hope it will help make the regional and global environment more stable and predictable, he said.

Gu said ASEAN countries see the next decade as critical for development, while at the same time, they have felt the impact of global uncertainty, including disruptions to industrial and supply chains in recent years caused by unilateral tariffs and practices of decoupling and supply chain severance.

Looking ahead, Gu said the interests of China and the United States, as well as those of the wider world, require the two countries to avoid confrontation.

A constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability will help create a relatively stable environment for China, the United States and the wider world over the medium and long term, he said.