Nixon’s 1972 visit to China marked the thaw in Sino–U.S. relations, while President Jimmy Carter became the leader who brought those relations to fruition. After taking office, Carter facilitated the formal establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States on New Year’s Day, 1979. On January 28 of the same year (Chinese Lunar New Year), Deng Xiaoping set out on his visit to the United States, where he was received with exceptional ceremony by President Carter. From then on, Sino–U.S. relations entered a path of friendly and normal development.

On the morning of January 29, 1979, for the first time, the red flag with five stars and the Stars and Stripes were raised side by side on the South Lawn of the White House. President Carter held a welcoming ceremony for Deng Xiaoping. The two countries ended nearly 30 years of hostility and isolation and achieved normalization of relations.

At 10 a.m., when Deng Xiaoping and his wife arrived at the White House, more than a thousand people waved Chinese and American flags, cheering and applauding the Chinese guests. President Carter and the First Lady accompanied Deng and his wife onto the red-carpeted platform. The band played the national anthems of both countries, a 19-gun salute was fired, and the two leaders reviewed the honor guard.

Carter specially arranged a grand performance for Deng Xiaoping at the Kennedy Center. Deng liked soccer and basketball, so a team of professional basketball players was invited from California to perform ball skills on stage. Also performing were the renowned pianist Isaac Stern and country singer John Denver. The finale featured 200 elementary school students singing “I Love Beijing Tiananmen” in Chinese. Deng Xiaoping was deeply moved; he and his wife stepped onto the stage to warmly embrace and kiss the American children.

Deng Xiaoping visited Atlanta, Carter’s home region, and toured a Ford automobile manufacturing plant. The factory produced 50 cars per hour, while China’s annual automobile output at the time was only 13,000 vehicles. The Ford production line left a deep impression on Deng.

Atlanta hoped to pursue economic and trade cooperation with China, which had just begun its reform and opening-up. The city’s Black mayor, Andrew Young, hosted a grand welcoming luncheon attended by more than 1,400 prominent figures from various sectors.

In the small town of Simonton near Houston, Deng Xiaoping watched a rodeo performance and donned a wide-brimmed cowboy hat, expressing his goodwill toward the American people.

During his eight-day visit to the United States, Deng Xiaoping demonstrated to the world China’s firm determination to pursue reform and opening-up and its resolve to learn advanced Western technology and culture.

President Carter’s Visits to China After Leaving Office

President Carter did not have the opportunity to visit China during his term in office, but after leaving office he visited China eight times, forging deep friendships with three generations of Chinese leaders—Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, and Hu Jintao. In January 2009, Carter visited China again to attend events marking the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States and met with President Hu Jintao.

Devotion to Peace After Leaving the Presidency

In late August and early September 1981, Carter visited China and Japan at invitation and received a warm welcome in China, where he met with Deng Xiaoping. He said that the achievement he found most gratifying during his presidency was the normalization of U.S.–China relations, and he believed China could achieve peaceful reunification.

In October 1981, Carter traveled to Egypt to attend President Sadat’s funeral. In September 1982, he accepted an appointment as a visiting professor at Emory University in Atlanta, where he later founded the Carter Center for the study of international affairs. In 1985, he published articles and speeches supporting the Geneva summit between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, advocating nuclear arms reduction agreements between the United States and the Soviet Union, and opposing Reagan’s “Star Wars” program. In 1994, he played a special role in negotiating a peaceful transfer of power in Haiti and arranging a short-term ceasefire between Serbs and Muslims in Bosnia.

A Model Former President

According to research by Rollins College in the United States, Carter’s IQ is as high as 175. He has long been known as a “model former president.” A popular saying among Americans goes: Jimmy Carter was more effective after leaving the presidency than when he was president—and accomplished even more.