This article traces the relations between two the most important countries on the world stage (taking into account the size of their territories, population and Gross Domestic Product), i.e. the People’s Republic of China and the United States of America. It focuses on the twelve-year span of 1989-2001 that is marked at one end by the Tiananmen Square massacre and the, at least symbolic, exclusion of China from the international community, and at the other end by the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, which were a sort of catalyst for the already improving bilateral relations and the accession of the PRC (The People’s Republic of China) to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in November 2001. The author briefly analyses the historical context of bilateral relations from 1949, when the PRC was created and relations were broken off, through the normalization decade of the 1970s, trying to describe the circumstances of this process. In the main part of the article the policies of three presidential administrations are depicted. One may observe that, in spite of many problems, which could negatively affect the relationship, it gradually improved, mainly due to economic reasons. The political relations tend to be good as well, because each side aims at the assurance of peace and stability in the region, which is essential for their harmonious development. The most important contradiction in bilateral relations is the Taiwan question, which is regarded as one of the most dangerous issues for the contemporary world order. One should also mention WMD proliferation, human rights issues and the problem of the National Missile Defense.