The recently concluded second round of China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) was widely considered a success.

Meanwhile, the event's achievements and issues are being followed closely by academics, media and policy-makers in both countries.

Analysts said the key areas being watched were China's market economy status, U.S. high-tech exports to China, the renminbi exchange rate, cooperation on new energy sources and trade and investment environment.

China's market economy status

At the dialogue, the U.S. pledged to seriously consider the issue of China's market economy status and speed up the process of acknowledging that status.

However, Chen Fengying, chief of economic studies at China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said, although the U.S. attitude on that issue had improved, it didn't mean Washington would soon acknowledge Beijing's market economy status.

"The U.S. legislation process to acknowledge China's market economy status requires some external conditions, such as the marketization of the exchange rate and price formation mechanism and the opening of capital items," Chen told Xinhua.

"So it is a difficult process and will encounter huge obstacles in the U.S. Congress," he said.

She was echoed by Sun Zhe, director of the China-U.S. Relations Studies Center at Tsinghua University.

"It is virtually impossible in two or three years," Sun said, adding that many in Washington prefer to see an automatic acknowledgement of that status in 2016 as stipulated in agreements reached prior to China's entry into the WTO.

U.S. hi-tech exports

China maintains over-conservative U.S. restrictions on hi-tech exports to China has played a major role in creating the bilateral trade imbalance.

During the dialogue, the U.S. side promised to consider Beijing's concerns on the issue.

"On which items and to what extent the United States will ease the restrictions deserve attention," said Tu Xinquan, deputy director of China Institute for WTO Studies at the University of International Business and Economics.

"My estimate is that Washington may ease restrictions on the products which were originally permitted for export to China before 1989," Tu said.

But other analysts said it was too early to expect concrete concessions from the United States, since neither a list of controlled items nor a timetable had been been released.