Washington and Beijing are breaking protocol, happily. Obama is deputing national security advisor Tom Donilon to Beijing to prepare the agenda for the California summit, which is apparently a US initiative. 

The White House announcement, here, anticipates “in depth discussions” on a “wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues.” The thrust of the summit will be to “discuss ways to enhance cooperation, while constructively managing our differences.”

The Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said, here, that the “China-US summit… will bolster the long-term, sound and steady development” of bilateral relations and “promote the peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world.” 

The US-China high level exchanges have become intense. The top US officials who visited Beijing in March-April alone were Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, Secretary of State John Kerry, Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey and a delegation of US governors. 

Interestingly, Xi-Obama summit is taking place even before the 5th meeting of the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Washington on July 8-12. 

What explains all this? As far as Obama is concerned, there are several irons in the fire where China’s cooperation helps — Iran, Syria, Pakistan, North Korea, climate change, Doha Round, disarmament and so on. Specifically, Chinese stance on North Korea has been a matter of satisfaction (and relief) for the White House. 

The latest incident of kidnapping of Chinese fishermen suggests that the ties between Beijing and Pyongyang are in difficulty. Beijing made demonstrative efforts to harmonise with the US diplomacy and the North Koreans feel uneasy. 

All the same, Obama’s mind will be focused on what China can do to help in the recovery of the US economy. Obviously, Xi’s hands-on approach to take China through sweeping economic reform is riveting. Obama would love to hear more about it and explore what is there in it for the US business. 

Again, China’s “urban shift” may offer business opportunities. China Development Bank president Zheng Zhijie is quoted today that over 8 trillion  dollars will be the anticipated new investment in the period upto 2020.  

Of course, there is also the Chinese investment in the US. China has now set up a New York operation by way of diversifying away from the US government debt to private equity, real estate and other US assets. WSJ has a report today (here) on the awesome panorama of Chinese investment in the US. 

By the way, some unhappy comparison is in order, too. It falls in place now why Burns dropped by in Delhi last week out of the blue and left an invite from Obama for a “chance in” on prime minister Manmohan Singh (who will visit New York in September to attend the UN general assembly) — lest India felt ignored. 

But then, look at the world through Obama’s eyes. XI has so much more to offer than Manmohan, and the Chinese leader would naturally have the pride of place in his heart — for the time being, at any rate. The US’ “rebalancing” strategy in Asia is indeed paying dividends.