President Hu Jintao is preparing to launch a diplomatic offensive to improve Sino-US ties before George W. Bush leaves office, and has consulted leading experts on American affairs - including, for the first time, thinkers outside the government establishment - sources say.
The president wished to avoid the risk of turbulence in a US election year and when a new administration took office, one source said.
Mr Hu, who begins his second and final five-year term next spring, sees stable US ties as crucial to China's development.
The president recently held five hours of face-to-face talks with Wang Jisi , director of the Central Party School's Institute of International and Strategic Studies, at his official residence in Zhongnanhai, a diplomatic source said.
Professor Wang, formerly director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of American Studies, is a leading expert on US affairs.
Mr Hu also held separate talks with two other experts from the academy, the source said, as well as consulting recently retired foreign minister Li Zhaoxing and Mr Li's successor, Yang Jiechi. Both are American affairs experts and former ambassadors to Washington.