At a time when the global economy has just seemingly managed to emerge from the worst recession in decades, it is all too natural for people to have high expectations of the ongoing visit to China by US President Barack Obama.

Though prompt and unprecedented joint efforts since the end of last year have so far allowed the world to avert economic catastrophe, it is far from certain if the international community has done enough to secure a lasting and balanced global recovery.

Since China, the biggest developing economy, is shortly expected to overtake Japan as Asia's largest economy and emerge second only to the United States, better ties that enable the two countries to work together in helping engineer a powerful global response to the common challenges that mankind faces have become more important than ever.