Tangible steps urged to strengthen ties

The door to a fresh start was opened on Wednesday, which not only witnessed the first China-US heads-of-state phone conversation of the new year, but also celebrated Start of Spring, the first of the 24 solar terms on the Chinese calendar.

Observers said tangible actions — especially by the United States — to follow through on the leaders' fresh consensus are key to further driving the bilateral ties toward spring and injecting more positivity into a turbulent world.

Furthermore, observers were impressed by the detailed items highlighted by President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump on the diplomatic calendar for 2026 and beyond.

Chinese scholars noted that Xi cited key goals and events on the two governments' agenda this year: China will kick off its 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period, the US will celebrate the 250th anniversary of its founding, China will host the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, and the US will host the G20 Summit.

Xi said he hopes to work with Trump to "steer the giant ship of China-US relations steadily forward through winds and storms, and accomplish more big things and good things".

Trump said that the US-China relationship is by far the most important in the world, the two countries are doing well in the areas of economy and trade, and the US would like to work with China to make more progress in the bilateral ties.

Diao Daming, a professor of US studies at Renmin University of China's School of International Relations, said that Beijing's hope to keep stabilizing the ties this year and to set specific goals for doing so was voiced in the phone talks, which "made clear the great significance of the year 2026 to both nations and the world".

"The key agenda items of the two countries were underlined at the talks to underscore that their own growth means mutual success — rather than an obstacle — to each other," Diao said. "It lives up to the common expectations of the international community when the two countries play their due, positive roles on the global stage."

Jia Qingguo, a professor and the director of the Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding at Peking University, said the relations now face "hard-won opportunities".

As China-US economic and trade ties have been relatively stable for a while after rounds of consultations, high-level exchanges hopefully will continue this year, and the two sides could collaborate on some topics of common interests such as artificial intelligence and nuclear nonproliferation, Jia wrote in a recent article.

In the phone call, Xi said that if the two sides work in the same direction in the spirit of equality, respect and mutual benefit, they "can surely find ways to address each other's concerns".

"It is always right to do a good thing, however small, and always wrong to do a bad thing, however small," Xi added.

Gary Hufbauer, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a US think tank, said that Trump needs to offer tariff reductions on top of relaxed controls on US chipmaker Nvidia, and he also needs to affirm the one-China policy. "More arms sales to Taiwan or more US export controls would be signs of deterioration," Hufbauer added.

Su Xiaohui, an associate research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, said that the phone talks show that China seeks to further shape the ties in an earnest way, and "given the great complexity in the current international geopolitical landscape, what China plays is a responsible role".

The Taiwan question stood out as a major topic of the talks, as Xi said that China "must safeguard its own sovereignty and territorial integrity" and will never allow Taiwan to be separated from the country.

Chen Binhua, a spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, told reporters on Thursday that Xi's comments made clear China's solemn stance, and the Taiwan question is the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-US relations. "The US side should faithfully abide by the one-China principle … and tackle the Taiwan question with utmost prudence."