From April 13 to 15, 2026, the 2026 Rocky Mountain Retreat on China-U.S. Relations ( “Rocky Mountain Retreat”), jointly hosted by the Huayang Center for Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance (Huayang Center) and the Arsenault Family Foundation of the United States, was held in Washington, D.C. Since its first round of dialogue was convened in Boulder, Colorado, in June 2023, the Rocky Mountain Retreat has been held alternately in China and the United States for five consecutive rounds of pragmatic dialogue.

More than 20 strategic community figures, experts and scholars, retired diplomats, and defense officials from Chinese and American think tanks and universities attended the meeting. Participating institutions included the Huayang Center, National Institute for South China Sea Studies (NISCSS), the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS), Peking University, Nanjing University, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, as well as the Arsenault Family Foundation, Eurasia Group, the Institute for Defense Analyses, Georgetown University, Stanford University, and the University of Maryland. Participants engaged in candid exchanges and in-depth discussions on such topics as the trajectory of China-U.S. relations, communication mechanisms between the leaders of the two countries, crisis management in the context of economic, trade, and technological competition, conflict management amid rising regional flashpoints, and potential areas for future China-U.S. cooperation.

Wu Shicun, Chairman of the Huayang Center and Chairman of the Academic Committee of NISCSS, and Conor Seyle, President of the Arsenault Family Foundation, delivered remarks at the opening and closing ceremonies and co-chaired the meeting. Wu Shicun also delivered a speech on the situation in the South China Sea, the trajectory of China-U.S. relations, and possible areas for future cooperation between the two countries.

Wu Shicun stated that China and the United States should continue to maintain necessary communication, enhance mutual understanding, properly manage differences, prevent misunderstanding and miscalculation, and avert conflict. In particular, both sides should continue to improve their capacity for risk management on maritime and security-related issues, enhance the stability and predictability of their interactions, and help sustain the overall stability of bilateral relations through cooperation in people-to-people fields such as think tanks, culture, sports, and youth exchanges.

Participants generally agreed that maintaining communication and contact and improving crisis response mechanisms between China and the United States remains of important practical significance. They also noted that the two countries still have room for pragmatic coordination on certain global issues and regional affairs, and that the key lies in handling differences in a more prudent and rational manner so as to keep bilateral relations generally stable.

Yan Yan, Adjunct Research Fellow of Huayang Center, and Hong Nong, Executive Director of the Institute for China-U.S. Studies, respectively chaired thematic sessions. Yan Yan also delivered a presentation on related topics.

During their stay in the United States, the Chinese scholars also visited think tanks in Washington and exchanged views with their American counterparts on issues of mutual concern.