This article is devoted to the historical meeting of two leaders − M.S. Gorbachev and Deng Xiaoping (1989), which put an end to the confrontation between the USSR and the PRC, marked the transition to a "new type" of relations between countries based on the principles of peaceful coexistence, and also coincided with reform and structural restructuring within these states. The authors examine bilateral relations between the USSR and China on the eve of the Heads of States meeting; analyze its results and assessment in the Soviet and Chinese publications of that time.