Given the important role the Chinese, US and Russian leaders play in determining the outcomes in a wide variety of areas, this new beginning could provide the impetus for restoring a just and lasting system of global governance.
Visitors enjoy the cityscape from The Stage, a new observation deck atop the White Magnolia Plaza in Shanghai, east China, April 14, 2025.
Editor's note: William Jones, a special commentator for CGTN, is a former Washington bureau chief for Executive Intelligence Review News Service and a non-resident fellow of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies.
The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.
After US President Donald Trump's state visit to China, Russian President Vladimir Putin will arrive on May 19 to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Given the flurry of visits by foreign leaders to Beijing this year, it is clear that Beijing has become the place to go to for resolving major problems which have become intractable for traditional international institutions.
Trump's visit from May 13 to 15 has undoubtedly done more to reset China-US relations than all the discussions conducted over the last nine years between delegations and representatives of both nations.
More than that, it presented a real possibility of reshaping the relationship from rivalry to genuine partnership.
"Great changes unseen in a century" is the phrase often used by Xi to describe the present period of world history.
This characterizes the turmoil in the world today and the abject failure of traditional institutions to deal with that turmoil.
A war in the midst of Europe well into its fourth year, Israeli attacks on Gaza, and the unprovoked attack on Iran by the US and Israel have all been repeatedly debated and discussed in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and the UN Security Council, but with no resolution.
Some nations are moving away from seeking multilateral solutions to overriding problems and showing greater unilateralism and protectionism in the realm of trade and investment.
Some have increasingly decided to go their own way without considering the interests of their neighbors.
And the resulting rise in political tensions has seen more nations seeking destructive weapons, jeopardizing the treaties put in place to limit the possession of nuclear weapons and prevent their use.
The international significance depends on official statements, diplomatic follow-up and any humanitarian, trade, security or travel implications that emerge after the first report.
For India-facing readers, the immediate relevance is whether the development affects diplomacy, citizens abroad, international law, trade routes, humanitarian operations or multilateral negotiations.
