Orville Schell, director of the Center on US-China Relations at the Asia Society in New York, said: “In any event, if there is a reset button to be found, it will doubtless reveal itself more readily at an informal setting like Sunnylands, where the two leaders will be sequestered without armies of security stuff and functionaries.”
Schell sees the meeting in such an informal setting as a test for the new Chinese leader.
“Just by accepting such a venue for his first official meeting with President Obama, President Xi reveals himself as someone who is at least willing to dispense with the trappings and niceties of protocol and, we may hope, someone willing also to roll up his sleeves in a more informal way to see if he can forge a new and pragmatic kind of partnership with his American counterpart.”
via Time to get to know one another|Politics|chinadaily.com.cn.