On October 26, 1997, Jiang Zemin arrived in the United States for a state visit that lasted several days, the first by a Chinese head of state since 1985. He met President Bill Clinton at the White House on October 29, and the two held a joint press conference, and they issued a statement on the building of a constructive strategic partnership for the next century. It was the first joint appearance of the kind by the two leaders in more than a decade.
The visit came at the end of a difficult period. Relations had been damaged by the events of 1989 and by disputes over Taiwan and over trade, and there had been a serious crisis in 1995 and 1996 when the United States allowed the leader of the Taiwan region to visit and China carried out military exercises in the Taiwan Strait. Both sides had an interest in calming the relationship. The stakes were high. Trade was growing fast and the two economies were becoming more closely linked.
The programme was broad. Jiang visited a number of cities and met business leaders, and he spoke to Chinese communities and to university audiences, and the two governments signed agreements on energy and the environment and on co-operation in other fields, and a hotline between the two capitals was agreed. The Taiwan question was raised by the Chinese side throughout the visit, and the Chinese statement emphasised the one China principle as the basis of the relationship.
The visit was followed by a return visit by Clinton to China in 1998, and by negotiations on China's entry to the World Trade Organization, which was completed in 2001. The ties held. The pattern of regular meetings between leaders continued, along with differences over Taiwan, trade and security, and the visit of 1997 is remembered as the point at which the relationship was put back on a working footing.