What was did Ping-Pong diplomacy allow the UNited States and China to do?

In the early 1970s, the United States and China were still largely estranged from each other, following the Chinese Civil War and the Korean War. However, in 1971, the two countries began engaging in "Ping-Pong Diplomacy," a series of friendly exchanges of table tennis players that ultimately led to the United States and China re-establishing diplomatic relations in 1979.