A summit between the US and China is seen as vital to halting the decline in their relationship, but it's unlikely to fundamentally change the long-standing tensions. The meeting aims to foster partnership over rivalry.

The US-China summit is “extremely important” to arrest the downward spiral of relations between the two countries, according to Li Cheng, a leading Chinese academic. But a summit would not be enough to change the overall structure of ties, which had been fraught for years, Li said on Thursday as US President Donald Trump began the first full day of his state visit to Beijing – the first by an American leader since 2017. The two presidents began the day with two hours of talks at the Great Hall.....