BEIJING - President Hu Jintao is expected to lay out a blueprint for future China-US relations in the new era with American leaders during his upcoming visit to the United States starting from Tuesday.

This year, which is the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century and marks the 40th anniversary of the rapprochement between the two countries, will see how China-US relations evolve.

GUIDING CHINA-US STRATEGIC COOPERATION

Until now, such debate as "Is China a strategic rival or a cooperative partner?" still catches worldwide attention. Hu's visit is sure to offer additional clue to the question.

Hu's visit is widely believed to be committed to further enhancing the strategic mutual trust, the cornerstone for China-US relations, as the tour will guide China-US strategic cooperation, promote communication and understanding and steer the relations toward positive, cooperative and comprehensive development.

However, noises emerge from time to time.

With China's rising clout on international arena in recent years, theories such as "China Threat" repeatedly appeared in the US media and some American politicians even advocated for containment to China, in disregard of the fact that China has adhered to peaceful development and offered new opportunities to others rather than posed them any threats.

The hard fact shows that mutual trust is vital to the common development as the two countries differ in political system, ideology and strategic goal.

Promoting mutual trust will strengthen the reserve strength of the China-US relations and contribute to the stability of Asia and the entire world.

Hu's visit will help promote mutual respect for each other's core interests.

Underscoring its ties with Washington, Beijing has done nothing harmful to American sovereignty and its fundamental interests. Accordingly, China has claimed over and over again that issues related to Taiwan, Tibet, and Xinjiang bear on Chinese sovereignty and territorial integrity and is a major concern for all 1.3 billion Chinese people.

The visit will also help boost a positive, cooperative and comprehensive partnership between China and the United States, the best choice for the two countries.

Currently, China and the United States are cooperating extensively. The two nations have signed more than 30 inter-governmental cooperative agreements and have established more than 60 dialogue mechanisms.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger proposed establishing "permanent consultative institutions" between the two countries.

"If we have a permanent contact, then even (when) there is an occasion of difficulty, it will fit into a continuing dialogue, and I expect this to be a result of this visit," Kissinger said.

Hu's visit is expected to reaffirm the responsibility of the two countries in safeguarding world peace and stability.

China and the United States share an extensive ground for cooperation and shoulder important common responsibilities in dealing with many major issues regarding world stability and prosperity.

It is crucial to further strengthen their coordination and cooperation, with a view to jointly tackling the challenges and striving to boost world peace, security and prosperity.

Fu Mengzi, a researcher with the Beijing-based China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said China-US cooperation will benefit not only both countries, but the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large as well.

That is because the increasing interdependency among countries and  regions in this era of globalization, he said.

The visit also will serve as a link between the past and the future.

During President Hu's visit in 2006, China and the United States acknowledged that they share extensive and important common strategic interests.

At a meeting in London in April 2009, President Hu and US President Barack Obama agreed to make joint efforts to build a positive, cooperative and comprehensive relationship for the 21st century.

Without doubt, Hu's upcoming visit will present China-US relations with a new look.

GUIDING CHINA-US PRAGMATIC COOPERATION

If the China-US relationship is likened to a ship sailing on the sea, then bilateral strategic cooperation is the ship's rudder, while pragmatic cooperation is its engine.

President Hu's visit is a trip that would charter a new course for China-US practical cooperation, and benefit both sides and the world at large.

During the visit, China and the United States are expected to sign a package of new cooperation documents, and bilateral pragmatic cooperation would be lifted to a new stage.

Bilateral trade is expected to top 380 billion US dollars in 2010. China has been the fastest-growing market for US products for nine consecutive years.

There is also huge potential for furthering China-US practical cooperation as better coordination between the two sides is needed in balancing the world economic structure and bilateral trade level is needed to be lifted up.

For example, the United States has not recognized China's market economy status and still imposed restrictions on high-tech export to  China. Lifting these trade barriers will surely further boost bilateral trade.

Further China-US practical cooperation is also a necessity for world growth.

Up to now, as the root cause for the global financial crisis has yet to remove, the world economy still lacks strong momentum for recovery. Under these circumstances, China-US cooperation is crucial for boosting reform of the international financial system and speeding up the world economic recovery.

China-US cooperation also plays an important role in solving many major regional and international issues.

The two countries can cooperate more in easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula, settling the Iranian nuclear issue, combating international terrorism, fighting climate change, reforming the United Nations, and reducing cross-border crime, among other things.

GUIDING CHINA-US TIES FOR FUTURE

"President Hu's upcoming visit has come as a statement of commitment to work through our problems whether they are easy or hard at any given moment," said David Lampton, director of China Studies of the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

In recent years, the China-US relationship has experienced twists and turns. As disagreements and frictions on some issues are unavoidable, the key is how to settle them.

Disagreements linger on in issues including US arms sales to Taiwan, the exchange rates of Renminbi, or China's yuan, human rights and religion etc. What's more, China's peaceful development spurs more than a few anxious glances in the United States and prompts some rhetoric that describes China as a "potential rival."

Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski, former US national security advisor, had this to say about how the countries should handle their differences.

"The United States and China should not flinch from a forthright discussion of their differences - but they should undertake it with the knowledge that each needs the other," said Brzezinski, who is also an expert on China-US relations.

Lampton pointed out that the past two years have witnessed strained bilateral ties with a force driving a wedge between the two countries.

At this time, Hu's visit is of high significance.

Experts say the United States should adhere to the one-China policy and the three China-US joint communiques and support peaceful development of ties across the Taiwan Strait.

China's exchange rate policy is not the main cause of China-US trade imbalances. Both sides should resolve their trade and economic friction through consultation and the United States should give up its protectionist mentality.

On human rights issues, the two sides should continue to hold dialogues that are based on equality, mutual respect and the principle of non-intervention in internal affairs.

Sen. John Kerry, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said China's rise was not a threat to the United States and urged Washington not to treat China as a rival.

The British-based Economist magazine warned that the best way to turn China into a rival is to regard it as a rival -- but the risk is that any confrontation will lead to damage of China-US ties.

China-US relations are important, yet complex. The relationship has gone through many twists and turns, but is still heading in the right direction. History has told us: the two countries can overcome obstacles if both sides respect each other's core interests and major concerns and adhere to equal dialogue to resolve differences.

This is, in fact, also the key to healthy development of international relations in the new era, and the key to making continuous progress on one of the most important bilateral relations in the world.

Stapleton Roy, former US ambassador to China, said "we can show by the pattern of cooperation between us that other countries will be able to operate in a world where cooperation between the two biggest economies and two of the most powerful countries is creating an international example of how countries have differences can still find sufficient common interests to have their relationship characterized by cooperation rather than conflict."

In the chilly days of January, President Hu is setting out for the United States with high expectations. People have good reason to believe his trip will bring China-US relations onto a new track that will benefit both countries and the whole world.