Meeting holds potential to help navigate Sino-US relations onto smoother course: China Daily editorial

Such is the state of relations between China and the United States that it may seem to some that there has been a complete communication breakdown between them. But that is far from the reality. There are many fruitful exchange mechanisms at various local levels that help anchor cooperation between the two sides. Even at the higher level, regular talks still take place.

So, despite the increasing trade tensions between China and the US, a group of US government officials are scheduled to visit China on Thursday and Friday for talks with their Chinese counterparts.

Under the framework of the China-US financial working group, they are expected to discuss issues ranging from financial stability and capital markets to the fight against fentanyl.

While expectations of the outcomes are understandably low, that the meeting will be the first since the conclusion of the third plenum of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China last month, which charted the course for deepening reform to advance Chinese modernization, means it provides the opportunity for the two sides to identify and explore areas where they can make efforts to consolidate common ground for their mutual benefit. The guests will surely be informed of the country’s long-term economic priorities by their Chinese hosts, which present many touch points as the country looks to crack the hard nuts of reform.

The gathering of US and Chinese economic officials follows through on the consensus the top leaders of the two countries reached on the importance of maintaining strategic communications and conducting regular consultations at the senior official level, which saw the formation of the financial and economic working groups in September 2023. Both working groups report directly to Vice-Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

That the upcoming talks will mark the fifth meeting of the financial working group and the second round in China points to the importance both sides attach to continuing to deepen their economic cooperation, and reflects both sides’ intent to responsibly manage their relationship.

Indeed, Sino-US economic and trade relations are too important to be mismanaged, given the world’s top two economies remain highly interdependent.

China is now the US’ third-largest trading partner, after Canada and Mexico, and US imports of goods and services from China hit a record $563.6 billion in 2022. China is also a major export market for the US, with half of all soybeans the country sends abroad going to China. All this makes it imperative for the two countries “to find a way to live together and share in global prosperity”, as Yellen put it.

The biggest obstacle to the development of stable and healthy bilateral relations comes from the US continuing to implement trade and technology measures intended to decouple the US and China.

The continuous US crackdown on Chinese high-tech companies on the pretext of national security concerns, and the US administration’s decision to restrict US investment in certain high-tech industries in China make it very hard to believe that such restrictive measures are not meant to stifle China’s economy, as the US has claimed. Just last month, Washington told its allies it was considering using the most severe trade restrictions if companies continue giving China access to advanced semiconductor technology.

Broadening national security concerns in trade is not conducive to normal economic and trade exchanges between China and the US, and hinders efforts to deepen cooperation in that regard.

Economic relations between China and the US not only promote mutually beneficial cooperation between the world’s two largest economies, but also serve to stabilize the world economy, and help address increasing global challenges such as climate change.

The US should work with China to ensure the mutually beneficial economic relationship remains on a firm footing, by properly managing their differences while pursuing areas of potential cooperation.

Despite the downbeat mood ahead of the meeting, by being willing to listen rather than coming to lecture, the US guests will be able to return home with pointers that can help the two sides draw up a practical blueprint for a relationship that is constructive rather than destructive.