Washington sees Beijing as a challenger also because the China-proposed BRICS Development Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will start operations soon, and a new Asian security structure is taking shape. Probably, the US sees these developments as part of China's "Monroe Doctrine" to keep it out of Asia.

As far as its China policy goes, Washington could either try to deepen security-related cooperation with Beijing, or encourage Beijing to be another provider of security services in the rest of the world.

Besides, the two countries are bogged down by their stereotypes about each other and the bureaucratic challenge to a "new type of major power relationship". In China, the US has always been seen as an imaginary enemy, while most US citizens view China as a strong challenger of the US for global leadership. So it is likely that by reiterating that the US has no intention of containing China, the American bureaucracy actually aims to keep China and Russia from getting too close, because it could diminish Washington's "hold" over Asian countries.

Confronted with bureaucratic hindrances including populism and nationalism, China-US ties could fall prey to the domestic political struggles in both countries. In other words, leaders and officials who are fully aware of the necessity and possibility of building a new type of major power relationship could still be misled into making unwise decisions.

Maybe, a G2 system consisting of elites from both sides may help strengthen China-US ties. Of course, this system should be able to bypass the restrictions mentioned above and redefine the national identities of the two countries.

As former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger has said in his latest book, World Order, a new type of major country relationship - despite all the differences between China and the US - is the only way to prevent historical tragedies from being repeated. This should be a must-do task instead of being an option. Perhaps the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Beijing will see Xi and Obama consolidate the foundation of such a relationship.

The author is a professor of international relations at Renmin University of China.