Chinese and foreign experts attending an international seminar on Sino-US relations in Beijing Friday said that US President George W. Bush's visit to China will further promote relations between the two countries.
China is the only country that Bush has visited twice within a few months, said Kenneth Lieberthal, a professor at Michigan University and a former senior director of the Asian Section of the US National Security Council.
Although no major agreement was signed during Bush's visit which ended Friday, the event was still significant for Sino-US relations, he said, adding that the two countries have many mutual benefits, on which cooperation and exchanges should be strengthened.
Lowell Dittmer, editor-in-chief of Asian Survey and a professor of political science at the University of California, said that Bush's visit shows that China is important in his eyes, and this will help him work out successful policies on Asia.
Zhu Weilie, a professor at the Shanghai University of Foreign Languages and director of the Middle East Research Institute, said that Bush's visit pushed Sino-US relations to the strengthening of dialogues, contacts and communications between the two sides.
The three-day seminar, which opened Thursday, is themed to mark the 30th anniversary of the Shanghai Communique. The experts will discuss Sino-US relations following China's entry into the World Trade Organization and Sino-US economic and security relations, as well as the prospects of the entire Sino-US relations.
(Xinhua News Agency February 22, 2002)
