Cartoon drawing by Liao Tingting

On April 6-7, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump held the ever first meeting between them at the Mar-a-Lago resort in the US state of Florida, which has caught global spotlight. The two heads of state have carried out in-depth, friendly and longtime exchanges in the forms of formal meetings and manor walks. Both have gained better understanding of each other, cemented their mutual trust, scored many major consensuses, and built up a good working relationship.

The Xi-Trump meeting at Mar-a-Lago resort was positive and fruitful. It has strengthened Sino-US relations, and charted the course of bilateral relations in the new era.

China and the US have installed four new high-level mechanisms for dialogues and cooperation, including the diplomatic and security dialogue, the comprehensive economic dialogue, the law enforcement and cybersecurity dialogue and the social and cultural issues dialogue. Xi and Trump agreed to expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and manage differences on the basis of mutual respect, setting core elements for the development of bilateral ties in the new era.

President Trump was pleased to accept President Xi's invitation for a state visit to China later this year and hoped to make the trip at an early date, injecting a new impetus to the development of Sino-US ties.

The Xi-Trump meeting at Mar-a-Lago is of unique significance to the development of Sino-US relations. It will open up prospects for mutual cooperation at bilateral, regional, as well as global levels, promote bilateral ties for a better development at a new starting point, and bring more benefits for the peoples of both countries and the rest of the world.

By Zhang Maorong, researcher with the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations;

(The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Panview or CCTV.com)