As the 21st session of the China-U.S. Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) is to start here on Tuesday, experts say the two nations will further improve their economic ties and address issues of mutual concern through the high-level dialogue.

It is no exaggeration that collaboration between the world's largest advanced economy and the largest developing country is of critical importance not only to the two nations' businesses and people, but also to the global economic recovery.

Figures from China's Ministry of Commerce show that China and the United States are the second largest trade partner of each other. During the period from January to September this year, bilateral trade value surged 31.5 percent, surpassing the level before the financial crisis.

"China's economic development and the political trajectory are profoundly important in today's world. In virtually every important area of today's world affairs, the United States and the world need China to play a proactive and constructive role from energy security to environmental protection, from climate change to public health," noted Cheng Li, a senior fellow at Washington-based Brookings Institution.

Over the past three decades, the two nations have achieved great progress in cooperation in economic, trade, cultural and other fields.

As the world is facing an uneven pace of recovery with emerging economies like China and India acting as the main engines of global economic growth, many leaders including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn have stressed the importance of global collaboration willingness in the post-crisis era.

During Chinese President Hu Jintao's meeting with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama in Seoul last month, both agreed that boosting China-U.S. relationship to a higher level, against the backdrop of the profoundly changing international situation, concerns not only the two countries but also the future of the world.

China's rapid economic growth is good for the U.S. workers, and the U.S. government is committed to improving bilateral economic relationship with China, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said earlier this month, adding that in the oncoming 21st session of JCCT, the two nations would seek to further nurture and improve the important bilateral economic relationship.

However, this year has seen a string of trade and currency protectionist moves on the U.S. side targeting China, which put the highly-intertwined bilateral ties on a bumpy road. Meanwhile, Washington has not recognized China's market economy status and has maintained restrictions on the export of U.S. high-tech products to China, the long-lingering issues between the two countries.

China and the United States have a wide range of economic and trade ties, and the two sides need to make persistent efforts to address bilateral ties in a realistic and concrete way, noted Kenneth Lieberthal, director of the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution.

"Trade war would be a disaster and a currency war would be very damaging," he added.

Experts, including President of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations Stephen Orlins, have pointed out that the common bilateral interests are overwhelmingly complementary and much more important than the differences between the two nations.

Analysts believe that as the Chinese economy undergoes a structural change and moves up the global export value ladder in the coming years, both nations can broaden cooperation in new energy, bio-technology and many other areas.

The growing Chinese market is also of critical importance to the U.S. government's set goal of doubling its exports within five years.