CAI MENG/CHINA DAILY

The past year has witnessed positive and negative changes in Sino-US relations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's meeting with US President Barack Obama in the White House in September was a continuation of their informal meetings since 2013. And the Strategic and Economic Dialogue yielded remarkable achievements. The two countries also broadened their cooperation on climate change and security. Yet, the two countries' divergence and competition in South China Sea show there is still a lack of mutual trust.

In general, this year will be a continuation of the pattern of relations featuring cooperation as well as competition. The US will carry on its "rebalancing to the Asia-pacific".Historically, the US always with draws around the world after being deeply involved in a war. Dwight Eisenhower did it after the Korean War. Richard Nixon did it after the Vietnam War. Barack Obama is no exception. After the Afghanistan War, he concluded the US' global anti-terror war, with drew US troops from Iraq in 2009, and reduced the US military presence in Afghanistan.

However, while contracting in the rest of the world, the Obama administration has increased its input in Asia-Pacific region. US strategists reached a general consensus in 2010 that China will be the main challenge to the US' hegemony in the coming years, and if the US wants to maintain its leadership in the world, it must respond, contain and be vigilant to China's challenge. Obama's successor will likely maintain this view.

In the past few years, the Obama administration has mainly done three things in the Asia-Pacific: strengthened the US' alliance with Japan, boosted its ties with India, and concluded negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. The Obama administration will continue to push ahead with these this year.