A constructive US-China relationship is crucial to stability and development in the Asia-Pacific region as the United States will continue to focus on its relationship with countries in this region, analysts said on Sunday.

The US is increasingly an Asia-Pacific nation, said diplomat James F. Moriarty — a former senior director at the US National Security Council and one-time ambassador to Bangladesh and Nepal — at a panel discussion focused on US-Asia policy on the second day of the three-day East-West Center’s 15th biennial international alumni conference in Beijing.

Satu Limaye (left), director of East-West Center in Washington, answers questions in the plenary session of the three-day EWC 15th biennial international alumni conference in Beijing on Sunday. Zou Hong / China Daily

Even after the US presidential election in November, when new people will take over key posts, including secretary of state, US interests in the Asia-Pacific region won’t change, Moriarty said. "They will come to the similar conclusion that the Asia-Pacific is more and more important," he said.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said she will step down at the end of President Barack Obama’s four-year term, even if Obama is re-elected.

US trade in the Asia-Pacific region was more than $320 billion in 2011, and two-thirds of foreign students in the US are from Asia. The Asia-Pacific has become the largest source of immigrants to the US.