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A senior US State Department official spoke on Monday of the need to improve dialogue with China at a critical time when the two countries face a potential trade war.

US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns will arrive in Beijing on Thursday. His trip is among a number of visits within the last month by US officials to China during a time of tension between the two nations.

"History teaches that moments of great change are when the dangers of misunderstanding, miscalculation or inadvertent conflict are greatest," Burns said at a luncheon at the Fifth China-US Relations Conference.

In his speech, Burns talked about areas where China and the US have cooperated, such as the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, but also points of disagreement, including intellectual property rights, tension over the South China Sea and the appreciation of China's currency.

Burns said there would be enormous challenges for the two countries for many years to come.

Burns said the US has increased engagement with China, which has set a "positive tone".

The US sent a number of top officials to China last month as relations have cooled following Washington's September announcement that it will help upgrade Taiwan's fighter jets, and the passage of a bill by the US Senate this month that threatens to punish China for its currency exchange rate.

Chinese Ambassador to the US Zhang Yesui said in a recent speech that it is imperative that the two countries understand each other's strategies, intentions and political objectives.

"We need close dialogues and communications in order to build strategic trust and avoid miscalculations and misperceptions," Zhang said, describing the Sino-US relationship as one of the most complex bilateral relationships in the world.

Many Chinese analysts said the visits to China by US officials are paving the way for a November meeting between President Hu Jintao and US President Barack Obama.

Hu and Obama have met nine times since Obama's first visit to China in 2009, and there will be three more meetings between them in November during the G20 summit in France, the APEC summit in Hawaii and the East Asia Summit in Indonesia.

Questions:

1. Why is there a need to improve dialogue between China and US?

2. How did Chinese Ambassador to the US Zhang Yesui describe the Sino-US relationship?

3. When was President Obama’s first visit to China?

Answers:

1. To avoid trade war.

2. One of the most complex bilateral relationships in the world.

3. 2009.

（中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑）

About the broadcaster:

Emily Cheng is an editor at China Daily. She was born in Sydney, Australia and graduated from the University of Sydney with a degree in Media, English Literature and Politics. She has worked in the media industry since starting university and this is the third time she has settled abroad - she interned with a magazine in Hong Kong 2007 and studied at the University of Leeds in 2009.