US Experts on U.S. President Obama's Visit to China

Jeffery Bader, senior director for East Asian Affairs with the U.S. National Security Council, says President Obama is expected to talk with his Chinese counterpart, President Hu Jintao about a wide range of issues.

"During his visit to China, I anticipate the President will talk to the Chinese about a breadth of issues that demonstrate the reality that none of the issues of the day can be addressed without Chinese cooperation. We know that building a durable and stable relationship with China, would be neither straightforward nor simple. Trust and confidence will need to be built by words and actions, they can not be assumed."

Analysts say a decade ago, issues discussed at China-U.S. summits were limited to two or three. Now the list of topics has grown to include almost every problem facing the world. James Steinberg, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, says of the topics on the table, climate and energy will be priorities.

"As the President goes to China, I think climate and energy will be enormously important. There really is an opportunity to advance practical cooperation on the climate and energy agenda which will benefit both countries, create jobs, and deal with critical issues of energy security and climate."

Former U.S. Ambassador Stapleton Roy says President Obama inherits a solid working relationship with China from his predecessor and the U.S.-China relationship in his administration has had a good start. He says the President's upcoming visit to China will be a good opportunity to build on it.

"President Obama had two productive meetings with President Hu. Both sides have set the goal of developing a positive cooperative and comprehensive relationship. But the biggest problem in the relationship is dealing with the problem of reciprocal strategic mistrust. So the real test of the president's visit will be whether it contributes to ease this mistrust, by providing strategic reassurance in the sense of restoring confidence that each side is considerate of the interests of the other and is not seeking to do it in."

Observers say President Obama's China tour will be a big event in U.S.-China relations, which is not only important for citizens of the two countries, but also helps set the agenda for how the world deals with a host of challenges.

Shanshan, CRI news, Washington.