Developed countries keen to show united front

Washington also hopes promoting "economic diplomacy" will expand external markets and so create jobs at home, thereby strengthening the domestic foundation for its global hegemony. For example, it is estimated that a successful conclusion to the EU-US trade negotiations would boost the trade in goods and services by almost $160 billion, while creating two million jobs in the two economies.

By integrating their markets now, the US and Europe would, through their combined economic power, secure their ability to set the market standards for the rest of the world. The shift of the global economy's center of gravity to Asia cannot be stopped, but a successful deal between the US and the EU would delay its impact on their influence. No wonder Obama said it is the core economic agenda of his second term.

But, of course, the negotiations for both the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership will be a long and brutal bargaining process.

Third, the developed countries are keen to work together to cope with the changing global situation. Emerging economies are rising collectively and, with the help of their own cooperative mechanisms, such as BRICS - the grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - are gaining more say than before in global affairs and seeking ways to address regional hotspot issues and global challenges in the current international system. The deve-lopment momentum of emerging economies and their joint efforts to reform the existing international order are viewed as a threat to their dominance by developed countries. Therefore, the G7 countries want to keep a tight hold on their power to formulate new international trade rules and market standards.

In face of the developed countries' new cooperative initiative, China as the largest developing country will need to be on the alert and make accurate assessments about its impact and respond appropriately.

The author is deputy director of the World Politics Research Institute, affiliated to the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.