Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, whose administration formalized diplomatic ties with China 30 years ago, on Jan. 12 urged President-elect Barack Obama to find ways to work more closely with Beijing on global issues.

"The main thing is for the new administration to work harmoniously with China ... and overcome those differences that are inevitable and seek out the best ways to cooperate as partners," Carter said on the sidelines of a conference commemorating the establishment of ties Jan. 1, 1979.

President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger were the original architects of the rapprochement with China. After decades of estrangement, the thaw came in 1971, when a then-isolated China invited a U.S. table tennis team to visit Beijing. In the wave of goodwill that followed, Nixon sent Kissinger on a secret mission to Beijing. That paved the way for Nixon's 1972 visit to China, the first by a U.S. president, and a meeting with its leader, Mao Zedong.

But it was several years later, under Carter's presidency, that secret negotiations with Mao's successor, Deng Xiaoping, were initiated to formalize the ties.

Today, "there is no more important diplomatic relationship in the world" than the one between China and America, Carter said.