US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping will spotlight the shared determination of the leaders of the world’s two largest economies to forge a climate change accord in Paris in December that commits every country to curbing their emissions.

Like wedding anniversaries, state visits by foreign leaders are occasions to celebrate the positive, and that’s what the Obama administration will stress as Chinese President Xi Jinpingtours the US this week.

Ruan Zongze, who served as a minister at China’s embassy in Washington from 2007 to 2011, said … calls for a tougher policy toward China are rooted in anxiety among US officials “to prove they’re not in decline.” In China, he said, the view is that … there is no upside for the Obama administration to pick a fight with Beijing.

… Richard Bitzinger, a regional security expert at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, told The Telegraph that President Xi Jinping is attempting to “alleviate US concerns” with his “fence-mending expedition”.

“I think it is noteworthy that he visited the big Boeing plant in Seattle,” said Bitzinger, referring to the early stage of Xi’s visit on the American West Coast.