Su Ge, president of the China Institute of International Studies, said China and the US should "grab the wheel firmly", adding that one of expected political legacies of US Presi-dent Barack Obama is the steady and healthy growth of the two-way relationship.

Teng Jianqun, a senior researcher of US studies at the same institute, said Kerry's visit "showcased the shared emphasis on keeping the rela-tionship on track in 2016", when the US presidential election takes place.

Wang and Kerry are signal-ing that Beijing and Washing-ton are moving closer to each other on resolving the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue as they have both stated opposition to any further attempts to desta-bilize the region,Teng said.

Fan Jishe,a researcher of US studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Washington is still expecting Beijing to do more and to increase pressure on Pyongyang - an approach that has been opposed by China.