February 1972: President Richard Nixon visited China and signed the Shanghai Joint Communique, declaring there is only one China and Taiwan is a part of China.

January 1979: Beijing and Washington established diplomatic relations. Vice-Premier Deng Xiaoping visited the United States, the first US trip by a Chinese leader after the establishment of the People's Republic of China.

October 27 November 3, 1997: President Jiang Zemin paid a state visit to the United States, the first visit to the country by the Chinese head of state in 12 years.

June 25-July 3, 1998: US President Bill Clinton paid a state visit to China, and, together with his Chinese counterpart Jiang Zemin, issued three joint statements on biological weapons, anti-personnel landmines and South Asia.

April 6-14, 1999: Premier Zhu Rongji paid an official visit to the United States, the first Chinese premier to visit the country in 15 years.

May 7, 1999: US-led NATO forces attacked the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia with missiles, killing three Chinese journalists and injuring more than 20 Chinese diplomatic functionaries.

November 15, 1999: The US China World Trade Organization accession deal was signed in Beijing, removing the biggest obstacles on China's accession to the organization.

April 1, 2001: A Chinese and a US plane collide in the southern Chinese Island of Hainan.

February 21-22, 2002: US President George W. Bush visited China and held talks with his Chinese counterpart Jiang Zemin, the second meeting for the two leaders after they successfully met during the APEC Summit in Shanghai in October, 2001.

April 2-May 3, 2002: Vice-President Hu Jintao paid an official visit to the United States. President Jiang Zemin also visited the country in October the same year.

2003: President Hu Jintao and his US counterpart George W. Bush met twice on the sidelines of two international occasions: one in France in June, the other in Thailand in October.

November 2004: President Hu Jintao and US President George W. Bush committed to a healthy diplomatic relationship on the sidelines of the annual APEC meeting in Chile.

2005: A flurry of high-level diplomatic exchanges took place, during which President Hu Jintao met with visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and US Defence Secretary Rumsfeld. The two nations also held their first strategic dialogue in Beijing in August to boost constructive co-operative relations.

November 19, 2005: US President George W. Bush paid a whirlwind visit to Beijing.

April 18-21, 2006: President Hu Jintao is paying a state visit to the United States, his first US trip after assuming the post in 2003.

Source: China Daily