Nixon's visit 'changed so many things'

The 40th anniversary of US president Richard Nixon's landmark visit to China is highly regarded by diplomats and experts as a watershed moment in China-US relations, which now stand at a new starting point.

Thanks to concerted efforts from both sides, the China-US relationship is still moving forward and has grown into one of the most important bilateral ties in the world, despite some ups and downs, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said on Wednesday while addressing a conference on China-US Relations in Washington via video.

The conference was hosted by the United States Institute of Peace, the Richard Nixon Foundation and the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States, and marked Nixon's visit to China and the signing of the Shanghai Communique in 1972, which is considered a defining moment for China-US ties.

Yang, who was in his early 20s at the time, was about to leave China to study in the United Kingdom when he heard the news.

"I was very excited. That historic event has changed so many things, from the overall international environment to the lives of many ordinary people," he said.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also recalled that she watched the developments every night during that "remarkable week" through a rented television.

Forty years later, Chinese cities have been transformed from "silence" 40 years ago to "noise and fast-pace 24-hour centers", while Nixon's visit was the start of China's entrance into the international realm and cooperative engagements with other nations, Clinton said.

"We are now trying to find an answer, a new answer to the ancient question of what happens when an established power and a rising power meet," she said.

"Interdependence means that one of us cannot succeed unless the other does as well. We need to write a future that looks entirely different from the past."

There are now more than 60 mechanisms of dialogue in place between the US and China, including the Strategic and Economic Dialogues and the High-Level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange, according to Richard Solomon, president of the United States Institute of Peace.