CHINESE President Xi Jinping said small positive steps can gradually strengthen overall ties between the US and China, after he took a stroll with his US counterpart Barack Obama at the Zhongnanhai leadership compound in central Beijing in chilly weather.

Using a Chinese idiom that means it takes many drops of water to make a pool, Mr Xi was cited by the White House press pool report as telling Mr Obama that the same logic of patient accumulation applied to Sino-US ties.

In response, Mr Obama said he hopes for “productive and candid” talks like those they had at the 2013 Sunnylands summit and wants to “take the relationship to a new level”. “When the United States and China are able to work together effectively, the whole world benefits,” he added.

…Associate Professor Li Mingjiang at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies noted that Mr Obama, now viewed by some as a “lame duck” in domestic politics, might choose to leave his legacy in foreign policy. “This might see him implementing a hardline policy on China or he might work closely with China to deliver positive results instead,” he said.