Timeline: US-China ties

Ping-Pong diplomacy. China's table tennis team invites members of the US team to China on April 6.

US President Richard Nixon visits China. He meets Chairman Mao Zedong and signs the Shanghai Communique with Premier Zhou Enlai.

Formal ties and "One China" policy. US President Jimmy Carter grants China full diplomatic recognition

US President Ronald Reagan arrives in Beijing on April 26 to visit China.

The Chinese government sends in troops to clear Beijing's Tiananmen Square, which has been occupied by thousands of students demanding democratic reforms and an end to corruption. Hundreds of protesters are killed, according to reports.

In response, the US suspends military sales to China and freezes ties.

Belgrade embassy bombing.

The United States and Nato apologise for the deadly bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during the campaign against Serbian forces occupying Kosovo.

American President Bill Clinton signs the US-China Relations Act, granting Beijing permanent normal trade relations with the US and paving the way for China to join the World Trade Organisation in 2001.

The US announces its trade deficit with China rose from US$273.1 billion in 2010 to an all-time high of US$295.5 billion in 2011.

November: Significant leadership turnover in China. Mr Xi Jinping replaces Mr Hu Jintao as president, Communist Party General Secretary, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission.

US President Barack Obama hosts Mr Xi at a "shirt-sleeves summit" at the Sunnylands Estate in California.

US President Donald Trump says he will honour the "One China" policy in a call with President Xi. But Mr Trump also breaks with established practice by speaking on the telephone with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.

Trade war. The Trump administration announces sweeping tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese imports, triggering a tit-for-tat response from China and raising fears of a trade war between the world's largest economies.

"Phase One" trade deal and Covid-19.

A US-China trade deal leads to the easing of some US tariffs on Chinese imports and commits China to buying an additional US$200 billion worth of American goods over two years.

January: The Trump administration bars all non-US citizens who recently visited mainland China from entering the US after reports of the emergence of a new coronavirus in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The US and China will go on to blame each other for the Covid-19 pandemic.

US and China hold their first high-level face-to-face meeting in Anchorage, Alaska. The meeting opened with one session of heated arguments in front of reporters and two sessions of closed-door discussions.

April: US senators introduce the Strategic Competition Act of 2021, seeking to counter China.

May: Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He spoke with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai by phone, making it the first such conversation on trade between the two sides since President Joe Biden took office.

Nov: Mr Biden and Mr Xi hold their first virtual meeting which lasted more than three-and-a-half hours, marking a conscious effort to smoothen bilateral ties. In the same month, visa restrictions on journalists from both sides are relaxed.

Dec: US diplomats and officials announce a boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics.

Sources: Council on Foreign Relations, China Briefing