Belated ＂Thanks＂

On February 21, 1972, U.S. President Richard Nixon started a weeklong official visit to China, the first by an American leader to the People＇s Republic. Nixon later called it ＂The week that changed the world.＂ At the end of his trip the two countries released the Joint Communique of the United States of America and the People＇s Republic of China （also known as Shanghai Communique）, in which both expressed a desire to normalize relations and stressed common ground on several key issues. The frosty ties between two of the world＇s biggest countries began to thaw. On December 16, 1978, China and the U.S. signed the Joint Communiqu6 on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations, officially recognizing each other and establishing diplomatic relations on January 1, 1979. On March 1 the same year they exchanged ambassadors and embassies, and Sino-U.S. relationships entered a new epoch.