Washington's diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Games in early February

The year 2022 turned out to be more eventful than ever for China-US relations, which experts believe are in a "dangerous downward spiral", with trust dipping still lower, making it imperative for both countries to implement the consensus reached by their presidents at their first in-person summit.

It started with Washington's diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Games in early February, a move that Beijing said was "politicizing sports". Then there was the rollout by the US of a China policy in May and a national security strategy in October that singled out China as "America's most consequential geopolitical challenge" to "outcompete".