On the evening of January 16, 2024, the Chinese Embassy in the United States held a reception celebrating the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States and the 2024 Chinese New Year.

Ambassador Xie Feng said in his remarks that the China-U.S. relationship over the past 45 years has left an indelible chapter in international relations, and the hope of its future lies in our two peoples. The historic summit meeting between President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden in San Francisco fostered a future-oriented San Francisco vision, and charted the course for exploring the right way to get along in the new era. The China-U.S. relationship is again at a new historical starting point. We are facing both rare opportunities and complex challenges. We need to stay committed to our original aspirations, follow the trend of history, use the past as a guide, and bear in mind the future of humanity and the well-being of the people, so as to usher in a brighter future together.

Ambassador Xie said that it is important to act with a sense of responsibility for history, and keep to the right direction of China-U.S. relations. The two sides need to draw inspiration from history, view the relationship from a strategic and long-term perspective, and make right decisions to ensure sustained growth of the relationship in the next 45 years. The top priority now is to follow up on the important common understandings reached between the two heads of state, turn the San Francisco vision into reality, and promote the sound, stable and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations with concrete actions. The two sides also need to learn lessons from history, stay vigilant against a new “Cold War”, the resurgence of McCarthyism and the repetition of the Oppenheimer-era tragedy. We need to oppose attempts to overstretch the concept of national security, politicize economic and scientific issues, demonize people-to-people exchanges, or weaponize our interdependence.