Addressing cooperation on the Korean Peninsula situation, Yu noted that the two powers have been cooperating "very well" on the issue. "Currently, their common task is to prompt North Korea to return to the six-party talks negotiation framework, which has proven to be the only effective path to solving the issue," said Yu.

Sun Zhe, a professor of international relations with Tsinghua University, said that, strategically, China and the United States have reached common understandings on the Korean Peninsula issue, especially on the denuclearization of the peninsula. But he pointed out that China must stick to two principles: First, the China-North Korea friendship should not be sabotaged; second, China must insist on independent diplomacy instead of making decisions under U.S. pressure.

Closer economic bond

The economic track of this year's S&ED featured three topics: enlarging trade and investment cooperation, promoting sustainable and balanced development, and stabilizing and reforming the financial market. Chinese observers believed closer economic cooperation will strengthen bilateral relations and enhance mutual trust during the establishment of the new-type relationship between the two big powers.

During the talks, the two countries agreed to start substantive discussions on the China-

U.S. Bilateral Investment Treaty as soon as possible after nine rounds of preliminary negotiations.

Chen Fengying, an expert on international economic studies with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, believed investment is the focus of current bilateral economic cooperation. China and the United States both feel that it is harder to invest in the other country and that's why the two need to make a breakthrough on investment protection, she said.

Lu Feng, a professor at Peking University, noted that the two countries are mutually complementary in terms of investment. Compared with to the giant bilateral trade volume, their investment volume is too small to fit the two powers' economic scales, said Lu, stressing enlarging two-way investment will help with their economic structure adjustments.

"There are three supporting pillars of China-U.S. relations: political mutual trust, trade and economic cooperation, and cultural communication. Trade and economic cooperation have been acting as the stabilizer of bilateral relations," said Yu from Peking University. He said the world is under significant changes, while positive and negative elements coexist. During Obama's first term, the Obama administration was overly concerned about military security when implementing a "pivot to Asia" policy, and pressed China's security space in the region, which caused tensions in the bilateral relationship. Washington has realized its mistake and begun focusing on maintaining economic pressure in the region by promoting the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), said Yu.

Yu believed that China should actively participate in TPP negotiations. The U.S. side has listed higher standards on trade conditions like environmental protection, wages and government subsidies. "Undoubtedly, these trade conditions are targeted at China. But we must admit that China's economic reform needs an external driving force," said Yu.

Unlike TPP negotiations, which are multilateral, investment negotiations between China and the United States will be easier to reach consensus, and will help solve other problems between the two sides, like security and mutual trust, Yu said. "Once an agreement on investment is reached, it will be a landmark in bilateral trade and economic cooperation," he added.

"There are many effective channels supporting the establishment of a new-type relationship between the two powers. Thus far, the S&ED is still one of the most important communication mechanisms," Yu said. "What we need is to strengthen bilateral communication at both high-ranking and people-to-people levels."

(With reporting by Huang Wei in Washington, D.C.)

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