CRI听力:U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's China Trip to Ease Concerns and Boost Ties

US Vice President Joe Biden has arrived in Beijing for talks with China's top leaders, as concerns about the US economy and the country's ability to manage its debt and deficits hang over policy makers and investors at home and abroad.
Sino-US relation evolved dramatically since Biden first visited China in 1979, at the beginning of Sino-US normalized-relations.

The relationship between the two countries is now mutually dependent and complex.

China now owns $1.2 trillion US dollars of US Treasury debt, the largest holding by any foreign country.

Yuan Peng with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, thinks Biden will mainly focus on the issue of the economy and US debt during his China visit.

"First, he will explain the root cause of the U.S. debt crisis to China. From their point of view, it was not really a crisis. It was more like the two parties having different opinions on the debt issue. He will also tell China, the downgrade of the credit rating by Standard and Poor's does not mean the US debt is no longer secure. People are more concerned about whether the U.S. economy can recover and develop again in the future. Other topics to be covered include: economic cooperation between the two countries, China's investment in the US, etc."

China has called the debate over raising the US debt ceiling a sign of political crisis in Washington.

Zuo Xiaolei, Chief Economist of Galaxy Securities, says if the US wants to recover its credit rating and return to the status of being "number one", the country needs to make some changes.

"We need US politicians to change the way they regard China, not to consider China as an imaginary enemy anymore. We need to cooperate with each other for mutual economic security, because the US position in the world will not be replaced in the short term, but if the US does not consider reform and allows the situation to worsen, their national credit rating will be further downgraded, which could be a turning point of US power."

Biden's visit to China comes on the heels of a series of significant events in the two countries' relations. During Chinese President Hu Jintao's January visit to the United States, the two sides agreed to forge a cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and mutual benefit. Several months later, Beijing and Washington successfully held their third Strategic and Economic Dialogue and resumed their stalled military exchanges.