The season of investment between the United States and China is "spring," Allen told Beijing Review, and the best is yet to come. The Sunnylands Summit, held earlier this year in Southern California, resulted in many important breakthroughs in economic, political and military relations.

"This was the first occasion in the history of civilization when two strong men came face-to-face and both, on a private basis, had the chance to size each other up and realize that by collaborating and becoming part of the same team they could provide the leadership to solve not only financial problems but also all of the other social and economic problems that face the world," Allen said.

Changing consumer habits

As China grows richer, the economy has begun to move toward a consumer-based market, where working and middle-class families can afford more than the necessities of life. Chinese consumers are also becoming more seasoned, and it is no longer sufficient to have a recognizable brand name, Chinese consumers are looking for quality.

"Chinese consumers are now more sophisticated, more discerning, they have more experience and more engagement with the rest of the world. They have more choices than ever before. The 'China market' is no longer enough--now we have the global China demographic," said Michael A. Zakkour, Principal at China/APAC Group for Tompkins International.

China's middle class numbers around 300 million now, said Ann Lee, Professor of Economics and Finance at New York University, and manufacturing is increasingly turning inward to serve these domestic consumers. The majority of these new consumers are coming from tier two and tier three cities and American companies would be wise to tailor their approach to specific locales.

Lee said she has seen a growing practicality among China's middle class. They no longer break their budgets to purchase one luxury item. They seek out more affordable goods and spend the rest of their money on going out to restaurants or on entertainment.

"Before, they were buying luxury goods for status reasons. I think they are becoming more practical now. This consuming class will start to look more like Americans in that they consume mainly to enjoy themselves," Lee told Beijing Review.

Just as the industrial revolution led to the 1920's gilded age of consumerism in America, which gave way to the practical sensibilities of the 1950s, Chinese consumption patterns are likely to follow the same trajectory, Lee added.

Even with the growing purchasing power of Chinese professionals, consumer confidence is key to economic growth. With deep systemic reforms difficult to achieve, most Chinese expect more marginal changes and still have a saver mentality. Without a strong safety net, Chinese consumers will continue to hoard their earnings for future catastrophes.

"The leaders understand this is a real issue, so hopefully they will be able to reform social services and the welfare system to make both more robust," Lee said. This shift is very much a generational one, she added, as young professionals are leading the growth in using credit for purchases and show a strong sense of security in their futures.

Payments and fulfillment services also remain as obstacles to consumer growth in China. Many cities and markets continue to be cash based and even online sales are usually fulfilled in cash.

"Right now the biggest impediment to e-commerce is payment systems," said Zakkour. "To put it quite simply, at least from peer-to-peer systems, Chinese people don't trust that if they sell something online via eBay that they would get paid for it. You still see a huge amount of [cash-on-delivery] systems. It's a cash culture."

Panelists praised the Executive Summit, now in its tenth year, as incredibly valuable to promoting bilateral development. The theme of this year's event is drawn from the new era that both countries are entering; one of stronger, deeper, and mutually beneficial ties.

"It has something to do with physics," Greater China Corporation's John Allen told Beijing Review. "There is something about equal and opposite forces. If they hit each other, they dissipate. If they reinforce each other, they take off. If you look at China and the United States and the positive aspects of both countries and cultures if they work together, according to the laws of physics, they will take off."

The "Chinese" and "American" dreams are one and the same, Allen noted.

"One of the problems is the labels we put on things," Allen said. "Even things like 'democracy,' 'capitalism,' 'socialism' and 'communism'--get rid of these tags and people start to say 'what's the problem and how do we work together to solve it."

Facilitated by global media, the Internet and the like, the rise of the "global citizen" has appeared. This group is affiliated more via shared experiences and consumer habits rather than political identity.

"The dream is a global dream, at this point," NYU professor Ann Lee told Beijing Review, "in terms of you wanting to do better than your parents. It's not so dissimilar. The average person has average ambitions, get the coach bag, send your kids to college, and enjoy a comfortable living standard so you don't have to worry about your future so much." 

The author is a contributing writer to Beijing Review, living in New York City