Abstract: China's national security strategy began to undergo a dramatic transformation in the middle of 1960s, which finally resulted in a historic shift of China's foreign policy in the early 1970s, that is, the Sino-US relations shifting from confrontation to reconciliation. Began roughly from 1964-1965, this transformation was mainly initiated and implemented in the interaction of the following two systems. One is the system of Sino-U.S. security relations and Sino-Soviet relations constructed in the Cold War system, and the other is China's strategic decision-making system, which gradually formed through handling the wars, crises and defense affairs after the founding of the People's Republic of China. It will be very helpful for understanding the evolution and basic characteristics of China's strategic decision-making in the Cold War to deeply analyze and interpret the transformation of these two systems since the mid-1960s and the interaction between them, and in particular, how this interaction has triggered and promoted the transformation of China's security strategy and foreign policy. This study will also provide a more accurate start point to interpret why the establishment of Sino-U.S. diplomatic relations(1969-1978) and the "normalization" of Sino-Soviet relations(1979-1989) respectively took almost ten years.

Key words: China's foreign policy, security strategy, decision making, Cold War, “Group of Four”