Seeking New Cooperation between China and the U.S.

In November 2017， U.S. President Donald Trump made a state visit to China. Both countries and the international community spoke positively and highly of the visit as constructive and fruitful. During Trump’s stay in China， Chinese President Xi Jinping engaged in in-depth talks with his American counterpart. They reached important consensus， setting the tone and pointing the direction for future China-U.S. relations. The two leaders agreed to keep in close contact and provide strategic guidance for China-U.S. relations.

Although China-U.S. relations receive considerable attention and remain complicated， they usually tend towards cooperation. After Trump took office， many questions concerning the two countries’ development and relations in the past， present， and future were brought to the surface and many aspects were involved. While some believe that the persistent confrontations between China and the U.S. may become even more complicated in the future， others are heartened by the construction of a new type of major-country relations between the two countries， which is moving forward steadily.

When Trump took office， his attitude towards China was quite assertive. Now， however， he is willing to sit down and carry out indepth dialogues with China， a development that is already a major breakthrough. Because of its present burdens and existing system， the U.S. now attaches great importance to its relations with China. Today， Sino-American cooperation has expanded to every realm including trade and investment， which has made China-U.S. relations even more complicated and dynamic. After solely working together on economic projects in the past， now cooperation is much deeper and comprehensive， covering culture， education， and military exchange. Both sides must work with each other in major international affairs， and the U.S. may be even more eager for cooperation from China in some areas. If the U.S. can accept the relationship of non-conflict or non-confrontation， both countries will work to iron out existing problems with mutual respect and their relationship will improve even further.

Trump’s China visit in November marked the third face-toface meeting between the two heads of state this year. A closer personal relationship between the two leaders is welcomed by both sides. With closer contact and deeper understanding， the two sides can better communicate on a greater number of issues. The root of disagreements between China and the U.S. can usually be found in a lack of mutual trust and substantive communication. Good communication requires not only dialogue between heads of state， but also among government departments at multiple levels. Only via extensive communication will deeper understanding and wider consensus be reached between the two sides.

Another major China-U.S. disagreement remains the latter’s stubborn views on its trade deficit with China. The U.S. believes that the current trade imbalance between the two countries was caused by unfair trade practices. It fails to realize that this imbalance is rather created by the U.S.’ own economic structure， in which the service industry plays a dominant role. While a single plan or program cannot solve this trade deficit， a whole package of solutions is needed to gradually work on this problem.

As outlined， besides disputes in trade and economic fields， the two sides have disagreements in other areas such as issues in Northeast Asia and on the South China Sea. A major reason behind these disagreements is worry that China’s development will threaten that of the U.S.

China hopes the U.S. will make changes in three areas. First， it hopes the U.S. will lift export restrictions on China， or at least gradually relax control. Second， the two sides should seek more fields for cooperation. The two sides can expand cooperation to investment， culture， education， tourism， energy， and other areas. China and the U.S. will also benefit from cooperation on certain international affairs including military and geopolitics. Third， China and the U.S. should strengthen communication to ease and resolve differences and disagreements. Some problems like trade deficits can be handled with negotiations and talks. As long as the two sides carry out dialogues， problems will be more easily solved.

The problems between China and the U.S. cannot be fixed instantly. With urgent challenges in global environmental protection and sustainable development gripping the world， China and the U.S. need to actively seek more realms for cooperation and gradually form stable bilateral relations based on long-term mutually beneficial cooperation to realize a new type of major-country relations.