[1] Both Deng Xiaoping, the paramount leader of China, and Mikhail Gorbachev, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, proclaimed that the summit was the beginning of normalized state-to-state relations.
[1][additional citation(s) needed] The meeting between Mikhail Gorbachev and then General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Zhao Ziyang, was hailed as the "natural restoration" of party-to-party relations.
[6] On May 16, 1989, Mikhail Gorbachev finally met with the Chinese paramount leader, Deng Xiaoping, at the Great Hall of the People.
Gorbachev also met with General Secretary Zhao Ziyang and the Premier of the People's Republic of China, Li Peng.
Chinese politicians emphasized that the restoration of party relations did not mean returning to the dominance of the Soviet Union.
[7] Gorbachev discussed future economic developments, such as cooperation in metallurgy and energy and transportation, with Premier Li Peng.
[8] On May 17, Gorbachev announced a plan to set up a "working negotiating mechanism" for troop reductions along the border.
[7] People's Daily called Gorbachev's meeting with Deng on May 17 "friendly and frank" while Pravda added "constructive".
[8] Russian news agency, TASS, had reported on May 16 that the meeting with Zhao was "warm and friendly", but Pravda omitted this the next day.