Deng Xiaoping stands next to then US President Jimmy Carter in the White House in January 1979. CHINA NEWS SERVICE
August 22 marked the 120th anniversary of Deng Xiaoping’s birth. The late Chinese head of state was considered a pioneer of Chinese economic reforms. But his legacy extends far beyond China’s borders.
Deng’s historic visit to the United States in 1979 is considered a turning point that reshaped Sino-American relations and laid the foundation for decades of cooperation between the two countries.
In January 1979, just weeks after China and the United States officially established diplomatic relations, Deng made a groundbreaking visit. At the time, Deng was the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit the United States since 1949, so the trip had enormous symbolic and practical significance.
“Deng’s 1979 trip was extremely successful, as he charismatically courted Congress, the media and the American people,” said the U.S. State Department’s Office of Historians, which included Deng’s visit in its list of “milestones in the history of U.S. foreign relations.”
Deng, then China’s vice premier and pragmatic reformer, came to the United States with clear goals.
“Deng was fully aware of the importance of a conducive international environment for China’s modernization, and the United States held the key to regional and global stability,” said Zhu Zhiqun, professor of political science and international relations at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania.
“The purpose of the visit was to introduce the United States to a new and reform-minded China in the post-Mao era and to seek US support for China’s modernization,” he told China Daily.
While high-level meetings were an important part of the agenda, the Chinese leader visited Atlanta, Houston and Seattle. In Atlanta, Deng toured the headquarters of Coca-Cola, signaling China’s openness to US business. His visit to Boeing in Seattle underscored his interest in aviation technology.
Perhaps most memorably, Deng donned a cowboy hat at a rodeo near Houston, creating an iconic image that humanized the Chinese leader to many people in the U.S. The famous photo of Deng in a cowboy hat, which appeared in newspapers across the country, became a symbol of China’s willingness to work with the West.
“The visit was very successful. The cities he visited were carefully chosen to highlight the purpose of his visit,” Zhu said. “During his visits to Coca-Cola and Boeing, Deng invited the U.S. business community and urged them to invest in China.”
The late socialist and renowned China expert Ezra Vogel highlighted in his book “Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China” how Deng’s visit promoted long-term relations between the United States and China through economically oriented agreements and the creation of networks.
“American businessmen who had heard Deng speak in the various cities immediately began to prepare trips to China to explore business opportunities. Many of the 17 governors who met him in Atlanta planned delegation trips to China with local businessmen,” Vogel wrote.
The then U.S. secretaries of commerce, agriculture and energy were also preparing to lead delegations in the coming months to expand relations in their respective areas, Vogel said. “Members of Congress, even many who had complained about China in the past, were vying for a chance to take part in these and other trips to China,” he said.
Through his visits to NASA and other institutions, Deng also helped establish links between the scientific communities and promote scientific cooperation between the two countries, Zhu said.
Deng’s visit immediately produced tangible results. On January 31, 1979, China signed a science and technology agreement with the United States to accelerate scientific exchanges. This laid the foundation for comprehensive research cooperation that would benefit both countries and the rest of the world in the years to come.
The 1980s after Deng’s visit were a “golden period” or “honeymoon” in US-China relations, with “intense cooperation between the two countries and growing US investment in China,” Zhu said.
This period saw rapid growth in trade, cultural exchanges and diplomatic cooperation. US companies began to view China as a promising market and manufacturing base, while Chinese students and researchers in US institutions gained access to cutting-edge knowledge and technology.
The fundamental shift toward greater engagement and cooperation that Deng’s visit symbolized continues to be an important factor in Sino-American relations, even though they have experienced ups and downs over the decades.
Despite all the challenges, the importance of Sino-American cooperation in solving global problems remains clear. As Deng himself stated during his visit: “Friendly cooperation between two great countries located on opposite shores of the Pacific is undoubtedly an important factor for peace in this region and in the world as a whole.”
