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Hu Jintao’s State Visit to the United States: An attempt to put the Sino-US narrative in place

Dr Jagannath P. Panda was Research Fellow at Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. Click here for detailed profile.

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R N Das

Dr. R. N. Das is Senior Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. Click here for detailed profile.

Jagannath P. Panda, R N Das, Priyanka Pandit and Vidya Krishnamurthi

February 01, 2011

Hu Jintao’s state visit to the United States attests to the significance of the Sino-US relationship in global politics. While China is of critical importance to the United States for many reasons, the US too has high priority in Chinese foreign policy. While the Chinese president’s trip concluded with a joint statement and the signing of trade and investment deals, it achieved little in terms of addressing pressing global problems and bilateral issues. The main purpose Hu Jintao’s trip was to stabilise the sensitive relationship and reiterate the two countries’ importance to each other. Issues such as Tibet, human rights and currency revaluation remain major irritants between China and the United States even as they have become more interdependent than at any point in history.