China, US make more positive energy for bilateral economic, trade cooperation

By Zhong Sheng, People’s Daily

The 12th round of China-US high-level economic and trade consultations was held in Shanghai on July 30 and 31. It was an important move to implement the consensus reached by Chinese and US heads of state in Osaka, Japan.

The resumption of trade talks between the two countries allowed both parties to have a deeper understanding of each other’s major concerns in the economic and trade field.

The candid, efficient, constructive and in-depth exchanges further proved that as long as China and the US are willing to meet each other halfway, manage differences, and conduct sincere discussions based on equality and mutual trust, they will be able to create favorable conditions to properly address their legitimate concerns.

Shanghai is a witness to the development of China-US relations, and it might offer important enlightenment to the economic teams of both countries as they met there.

Former US President Richard Nixon started an “ice-breaking” visit to China in 1972, and the two sides issued the Shanghai Communique – an epoch-making document when the visit concluded. It is an important mark for the ending of “isolation” between China and the US, and also a vital cornerstone for the bilateral relations between them.

It is written in the communique that “Both sides view bilateral trade as another area from which mutual benefit can be derived, and agreed that economic relations based on equality and mutual benefit are in the interest of the peoples of the two countries. They agree to facilitate the progressive development of trade between their two countries.”

Obviously, the Shanghai Communique is not only about international politics and the two countries had already had consensus of and expectations for bilateral economic and trade cooperation at the very beginning of the normalization of China-US relations, which indicated their extraordinary strategic views and political wisdom.

History can’t be reversed. China and the US, walking out of “isolation” 47 years ago, have no reason at all to alienate from each other when economic globalization is currently developing in such an in-depth manner.

China-US trade is a natural outcome chosen by the enterprises and people of the two countries based on the supply-demand relationship of the global market. The trade volume between the two countries was only $5 million in 1972, and such an amount can be reached by them today in only seconds.

Even when the trade frictions between the two countries have lasted over a year, the momentum for growth of their trade volume is still emerging. It indicated the high complementarity between the world’s first and second largest economies, and that the cake of common interests of the two peoples is still getting bigger.

Rainbows only appear after rains, which perfectly mirrors the development of China-US relations. 47 years ago, Shanghai witnessed the opening of the door of normalized relations between China and the US; today, the city once again witnessed the resumption of trade talks between the two countries as they encounter difficulties in the trade and economic field.

To have the past shed a light on the future is also something that is worth being expected by both the Chinese and US people, as well as the people in the rest of the world.

China and the US should face up to the difficulties and make positive energy to guide the development of bilateral relations with cooperation and reciprocity. It’s without doubt that any positive interaction between the two countries in the trade and economic field is welcomed by their people.

The US administration has recently announced the exemption of additional tariffs imposed on 110 items of Chinese industrial products and expressed its willingness to prompt the U.S. businesses to continue providing supplies for related Chinese enterprises. Besides, millions of tons of American soybeans have been shipped out to China. This is positive energy.

In the just-concluded 12th round of China-US high-level economic and trade consultations, the two sides discussed the increased purchase of US agricultural products by China according to its own domestic needs and favorable conditions to be offered by the US side for the purchase. They agreed to hold the next round of high-level economic and trade consultations in September in the United States. This is also positive energy.

Facts have proved that only such positive energy can bring benefits to China and the US, and provocations only leads to negative results. And both parties have to see that they stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation; and cooperation and dialogue is always better than friction and confrontation – an eternal fundamental of China-US relations. Such fundamental has been indicated by the prices the two countries have paid in the past year of economic friction.

Being the world's biggest developing economy and the biggest developed economy, respectively, China and the United States are highly complementary rather than competitive. Such foresight is very much needed to “dispel the clouds to see the sun”.

People have the reason to believe that as long as the two countries work together and make practical efforts, they will be able to advance bilateral relations based on coordination, cooperation and stability.

(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People's Daily to express its views on foreign policy.)