Xi-Obama meetings following the APEC summit helped spur new topics and commitments to bilateral cooperation, most notably with the creation of an impactful new climate treaty. Yu Xiang discusses new international issues – responding to Ebola, IS, and a military reporting mechanism – for extending Sino-U.S. cooperation.

The initiatives and enormous investments turned the APEC meeting in Beijing from a “talk shop” to one of action. Han Liqun stresses that all APEC member economies should be fully confident in building an open and liberal economic and trade environment in the Asia-Pacific.

China is the leading advocate for progress in the form of a “feasibility study” on an inclusive new regional trade agreement, the FTAAP. Concerned that this will detract from U.S. regional interests, the FTAAP ironically has provided impetus for the completion of the U.S.-led TPP proposal.

Tao Wenzhou explains how the Xi-Obama Summit achieved four major bilateral goals: increased commitment to create a new bilateral investment agreement, shared reduction of CO2 emissions, more liberal visa regulations for people-to-people exchanges, and new mil-to-mil protocols.

When evaluating the meeting between Presidents Xi and Obama, the two countries should transcend the mentality of a zero-sum game, and place their main focus on cooperation.

Zhang Junshe describes how the establishment of mutual trust mechanisms between China and the U.S.– through military leader exchanges and joint military exercises – can help both sides to know each other’s strategic intentions and reduce the possibilities of misunderstanding and misjudgment and thus lower the risks of military friction.

The much anticipated Xi-Obama meeting after the APEC Summit achieved many positive bilateral policy goals: from the increased liberalization of visa and trade tariffs to mutual military cooperation. However, as Jia Qingguo explains, the offensive realist perspectives of individuals in both countries and the fractured U.S. Congress interests will hinder progress.

Yu Sui discusses China-Russia power relations built on “the five principles of peaceful coexistence,” which has yielded beneficial economic, security, and diplomatic cooperation between the two nations. Also discussed is the differentiation between Russia and China’s Central Asian ambitions through the respective Eurasian Alliance and Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Zhou Bo posits that an essential component to improving frosty Japan-China relations is an equal commitment to develop shared maritime procedures, such as the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES). But first, the two sides need to agree upon a common Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).