The ongoing China-US University and Think Tank Forum is being held in Beijing through Tuesday. Themed "A Changing Global and Political Order: Perspectives for China-United States Cooperation," the forum opened Monday morning with former senior diplomats and experts in attendance.  

"China and the US are two important pillars of global order," Wu Jianmin, former Chinese ambassador to France, stressed at the forum, adding that although China's rise is attributed to the existing global order, the current order needs to be reformed to adapt to the changing international situation.

The significance of China-US cooperation was echoed by John Negroponte, former US deputy secretary of state. "Clearly, from the US' perspective, the most important bilateral relationship that we have is with the country of China."

The US-China relationship will "continue and even become a more important one as time goes on," because China and US, as the two largest economies in the world, are "interdependent" in economy, Negroponte added.

The current divergences between Beijing and Washington are a reflection of cultural diversity and are quite normal in present-day society, experts said. "Dialogue is an important way to resolve disputes … Sanctions, on the contrary, will trigger anti-sanctions measures," Wu claimed.

Speaking on the South China Sea issue, Negroponte believed that "we both have important strategic capabilities that have to be managed in order to avoid incidents and misunderstandings. But if properly managed, our respective capabilities in economy and security areas can definitely be a very positive force for good."

With participants from world renowned universities including Peking University, Stanford University and Yale University, the think tank forum coincides with the Seventh China-US High-level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange (CPE), an annual event designed to strengthen ties between Chinese and Americans. 

The three-day-forum, which sees nearly 100 officials and scholars in attendance, aims to promote the spirit of the CPE and topics where ambiguity persists, such as the shifting global order and China-US relations in the new era.