Backgrounder: Major Exchanges of Visits by Chinese, U.S. Leaders

Chinese President Hu Jintao visits the United States on Jan. 18-21. The following are some past major exchanges of visits by leaders of the two states.

-- Feb. 21-28, 1972, U.S. President Richard Nixon paid a visit to China, the first visit by a U.S. president since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. A China-U.S. joint communique, known as the Shanghai Communique, was issued in Shanghai on Feb. 28.

-- Dec. 1-5, 1975, U.S. President Gerald Ford paid a visit to China.

-- Jan. 28-Feb. 5, 1979, Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping paid an official visit to the United States, during which the two sides signed agreements on scientific, technological and cultural cooperation.

-- April 26-May 1, 1984, U.S. President Ronald Reagan paid a state visit to China, during which the two countries signed four agreements on avoiding double-taxation and tax evasion and initialed an agreement on cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

-- July 22-31, 1985, Chinese President Li Xiannian paid a state visit to the United States, the first by a Chinese head of state since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. During Li's visit, the two countries signed an agreement on the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

-- Feb. 25-26, 1989, U.S. President George Bush paid a working visit to China.

-- Oct. 26-Nov. 3, 1997, Chinese President Jiang Zemin paid a state visit to the United States. On Oct. 29, the two sides issued a China-U.S. joint communique, vowing to boost cooperation and work for a 21st century-oriented constructive strategic partnership.

-- June 25-July 3, 1998, U.S. President Bill Clinton paid a state visit to China. During the visit, President Clinton reiterated that the United States did not support independence for Taiwan, "one China, one Taiwan," "two Chinas," or Taiwan's membership in any international bodies whose members are sovereign states.

-- Feb. 21-22, 2002, U.S. President George W. Bush paid a working visit to China. During the visit, Chinese President Jiang Zemin and President Bush held talks, and the two leaders agreed that China and the United States, both having significant influence on the world, should strengthen dialogues and cooperation and properly address their differences in order to push forward China-U.S. constructive cooperative relations.

-- Oct. 22-25, 2002, Chinese President Jiang Zemin paid a working visit to the United States. During the visit, President Jiang and President Bush exchanged views on important issues of common concern. The two leaders believed that China and the United States, with broad and important common interests, should expand exchanges and cooperation in trade, culture and education, and boost dialogues and coordination on major regional and international issues to constantly push forward their constructive cooperative relations.

-- Nov. 19-21, 2005, U.S. President George W. Bush visited China. During his visit, President Hu and President Bush agreed to comprehensively push forward the 21st century-oriented constructive cooperation relationship between China and the United States.

-- April 18-21, 2006: Chinese President Hu Jintao visited the United States. The two sides agreed that China and the United States had extensive and important common strategic interests and were not only mutual stakeholders, but should also be constructive collaborators. They agreed that a sound bilateral relationship was of strategic significance for safeguarding and promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large. Both sides agreed that China-U.S. relations should be treated from a strategic, long-term perspective.

-- Aug. 7-11, 2008: U.S. President George W. Bush attended the opening ceremony and associated activities of the Beijing Olympic Games.

-- Nov. 15-18, 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama paid a four-day state visit to China, during which both sides agreed to take concrete actions to steadily build a partnership to address common challenges.

(Source: Xinhua)