Now, following the presidential summit, the two countries seem to be edging toward a point at which they must decide whether and how to work and prevent flashpoints that could sidetrack the momentum toward stabilizing China-US relations, and move forward to realizing the San Francisco vision from a new starting point.

Expectations are running high among China watchers in both countries for the stability in relations to be sustained.

Wang Jisi, head of the Institute of International and Strategic Studies at Peking University, said the summit could set the tone for stable relations in the near future while arrangements are being made for next year's official bilateral interactions.

Jan Berris, vice-president of the National Committee on United States-China Relations in New York, said she hoped the meeting between the two presidents would once again provide an opportunity for the US and China to work together, to forge a "strong, a stable and a mutually respectful" relationship.

Berris, who received the Chinese table tennis team in a reciprocal visit to the US in 1972, said for the past few years, there is a perception that the engagement benefited only China.

"I think it's absolutely, 100 percent wrong, and I think both Americans and Chinese have benefited equally from our relationship," she said at an event in Washington earlier this month to mark the 52nd anniversary of Ping-Pong Diplomacy between China and the US.

In recent weeks, top envoys in each other's capital have hailed the summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Biden as either the "best" of the seven meetings the two leaders have had since Biden became president, or a "milestone" in the history of the bilateral relationship.

They also vowed to follow through its important consensus.