Chinese President Xi Jinping defended his government’s economic stewardship and said that China’s slowing growth and market fluctuations won’t deter needed reforms.

If Americans focus on Chinese activities in the South China Sea, cyberspace, and the currency markets during the upcoming state visit of President Xi Jinping to the United States, they will be mistaking the urgent for the important.

As Chinese President Xi Jinping begins his trip to the United States in Seattle, home to many of the world’s leading technology firms, most observers are looking ahead to his subsequent meeting with President Barack Obama. Can the summit reverse the downward spiral in US-China relations that began with Xi’s accession to power in 2013?

Sino-US relations have gone beyond bilateral scope and are showing increasing global significance. Reality calls for both sides to consider each other’s reasonable concerns, learn from each other, and push aside barriers to their collaboration as they pursue common goals and interests.

On balance, common interests outweigh differences, and President Xi Jinping’s visit to the US will give both sides a fresh opportunity to re-commit to cooperation, accommodate each other’s core interests, and manage differences to avoid disrupting bilateral relations.

For both sides, statesmanship and long-term political commitment is essential at critical moments, as was repeatedly evidenced in the Sino-US relations since the ice-breaking contact in early 1970s. Washington and Beijing must look beyond semantics and embrace a new type of relationship that meets both sides’ goals of peace and progress.

If China can be nudged to align various policies to be more in line with U.S. interests in a way that allows China, too, to save face and claim its required victories at home, this summit will have been worthwhile, and better than having not met at all.

There is no lack of communication between Washington and Beijing on the South China Sea issue, which will likely be on the agenda of the Xi-Obama meeting in September. If China’s “dual-track” approach to the issue can be wed to the new model of major-country relationship between China and the United States, they can reach some accommodation and reduce the chance of a showdown.

At a time when tensions between the two countries seem to be growing, Xi and Obama will likely use this meeting to reassure each other of their mutual commitment to stable, constructive bilateral engagement and explore avenues to manage disagreements such as the South China Sea and cybersecurity.

China "will continue its attitude of openness toward foreign media", and interviews and reporting by foreign media and reporters in China are welcome, President Xi Jinping told visiting media mogul Rupert Murdoch on Friday.