U.S. President Joe Biden’s assurances during the video summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping need to be transformed into concrete progress. Both the United States and China should do their best to bring about a substantive improvement in trade relations in near future, thereby sealing the summit's success.

China and the United States should move forward without delay and show visible results as soon as possible in areas of agreement. Where they differ, they should adopt sound crisis management mechanisms and strive to find compromises that meet the demands of both sides.

The virtual summit between presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden began on a friendly note. But one can predict that the relationship between China and the United States may not go so smoothly in the future. There are likely to be storms and difficult struggles.

While no major agreements were made during the latest summit between Presidents Xi and Biden, the meeting represented a refreshing commitment to high-level engagement between China and the United States.

By having their first direct bilateral face-to-face summit meeting, Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping tried to build a floor under the tense and deteriorating U.S.-China relationship, as well as to erect some “guardrails” for managing the competitive relationship. Both sides reported it as a positive step forward.

Two presidents take a stand against a new cold war in a virtual summit. The old friends sought to renew relations and move forward — accepting competition but shunning conflict. How to achieve that is the big question.

That 10 months elapsed before a meeting was scheduled between Xi Jinping and Joe Biden — who had met frequently in the past — reflects the complexity of the bilateral relationship. But the recent virtual summit may have helped thaw the ice.

The virtual summit between presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden began on a friendly note. But one can predict that the relationship between China and the United States may not go so smoothly in the future. There are likely to be storms and difficult struggles.

This week’s much-anticipated meeting between President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden offers welcome relief for a world nervously watching where the 21st century’s most consequential relationship is headed.

Oddly, President Biden has claimed on several occasions that he hoped competition with China would not veer into conflict. But Washington-style competition means a race to the bottom — and possible peril.