1972
February 21-28
President Richard Nixon of the United States visited China. Before that, the US table tennis team visited China in April of 1971 after receiving an invitation; Henry Kissinger, a special assistant to the US president in national security, visited China twice in July and October of 1971. During his visit, Nixon met with Mao Zedong and held talks with Zhou Enlai. On February 28, China and the United States signed the Shanghai Joint Communiqué, which marked the beginning of the process of normalization of relations between the two countries.