Summit to set sunny tone for times ahead

As President Xi Jinping and US President Barack Obama began their two-day summit in Sunnylands, California, on Friday, speculation was rife about its outcome, with some people even trying to hijack the agenda to serve their own interests.

The Chinese and the US governments, however, have said the meeting may not yield specific deliverables, because it focuses on building a personal relationship between Xi and Obama and setting the tone for bilateral ties. The meeting, though, is expected to lay the foundation for future deliverables.

The top leaders of the two countries have been committed to exploring a new type of major power relationship to prevent the ugly conflicts the past has seen between a rising power and an established power.