China and US have every reason to pursue win-win cooperation and common development

Liu Wei

O n July 15， Lin Songtian， president of the Chinese Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries， met with Michael Hart， president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China， and executives of Intel， Herbalife， Wal-Mart， Ford Motor Company， Warner Bros. Discovery and other American companies in China.

Lin congratulated Michael Hart on his appointment as president of the chamber and thanked the organization for its unremitting efforts and positive contributions to promoting exchanges and cooperation between China and the United States and enhancing understanding， friendship and mutual trust between the two peoples over the years.

Lin said that history and reality have proved that China and the US benefit from cooperation and suffer harm from confrontation. The people of both countries， especially the business community， look forward to friendly and mutually beneficial coop- eration.

Recently， there have been some encouraging and positive signs in China-US relations， Lin noted.

First， he said， Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He had a phone conversation with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. The two sides had a pragmatic and candid exchange of views on the macroeconomic situation， global industrial and supply chains and other topics.

Second， Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Indonesia. They had a comprehensive， in-depth， candid， substantive and constructive dialogue and communication.

Lin noted that China has a civilization reaching back more than 5，000 years， while the US is the representative of modern civilization. Since the announcement of the Shanghai Communique， China-US relations have experienced ups and downs over five decades. “However， peace， friendship and win-win cooperation remain the main theme，” Lin said， adding that “it has given us a lot of inspiration”.

This year， in February， a meeting commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Shanghai Communique was held in Shanghai. Participants agreed that while China and the US have different social systems， roads of development and cultural values， they can completely realize peaceful coexistence， winwin cooperation and common development， so long as both sides respect each other and seek common ground while shelving differences.

Lin said that China-US relations look complicated， but are actually very simple. The crux of the problem lies in the US perception of China. The US， with its hegemonic logic about the superiority of Western powers， definitely wouldnt understand Chinese culture and Chinas philosophy about peaceful， cooperative and common development. The US is unwilling and afraid to acknowledge the success of the Communist Party of China and the socialist system， nor will it acknowledge the fact that China has lifted more than 1.4 billion people out of absolute poverty and brought them to a peaceful， harmonious， prosperous and beautiful life.

Western powers sought their own rise and absolute security by resorting to colonial wars and bloody plunder but ended up in cruel mutual killings， regime replacement and dead-end positions. The Chinese civilization， by contrast， has always believed that peace is most valuable and that the world should work together for common prosperity and universal harmony. China has been pursuing a new path of win-win cooperation and common development， promoting the common development of all countries through its own development. It will never repeat the old zero-sum game pursued by the US and the West.

As long as the US takes Chinas history and culture， policy ideas and reality into consideration and treats China as a cooperative development partner rather than a strategic competitor， problems in China-US relations will be easily solved.

The reason China-US relations may not work well lies in the US perception of China. The two cannot fight it out， nor can they live without each other. They can do well only by observing the three principles of mutual respect， peaceful coexistence and winwin cooperation.

Lin said the essence of China-US economic and trade relations involves mutual benefit， mutual needs and winwin cooperation. Last year， bilateral trade reached $750 billion， up 28.7 percent year-on-year. Of that， US trade with China hit a record high — up 21 percent year-on-year — saying that“business is business”. Business leaders and capital are rational. What business cares about is a stable investment environment and a predictable invest- ment return.

With a population of 1.4 billion and a huge consumer market of over 400 million middle-incomers， China is pursuing a new vision for development and is committed to high-quality development and high-level opening-up.

At home， China has accelerated its development of a new pattern —dual circulation — in which domestic and external demand complement one another. It has made every effort to promote the development of free trade zones， duty-free ports and a unified national market， and it has actively fostered a market-oriented， international and law-based business environment. Abroad， China has promoted the Belt and Road Initiative and physical， soft， heart-to-heart connectivity between China and the rest of the world.

The mutually beneficial cooperation between China and the US has great potential and broad prospects， Lin said， adding that he hopes the ACCC will continue to play a constructive role and amplify the voice of rationality.

Hart thanked President Lin for the meeting and presented him with the American Business in China White Paper 2022. He said this is the 24th consecutive year that the chamber has published a white paper， which is the result of the collective wisdom of its member companies.

In the face of COVID-19， the most challenging and unpredictable factor， more than two-thirds of the companies surveyed said China remains their main global investment destination. The white paper speaks highly of the efforts made by the Chinese government to improve the business environment and recognizes the 33 economic stabilization measures issued by the State Council in May， expressing the confidence of US businesses in Chinas economic development and markets.

“The Chamber is willing to ac- tively facilitate face-to-face discussions between the two governments to improve the prospects of US-China relations，” Hart said.

Executives of the five US companies in China shared their own development path and achievements， detailing their practices and accomplishments in promoting China-US relations and serving public welfare undertakings. They also covered the difficulties and challenges they are facing and put forward ideas and suggestions.

Lin thanked US companies in China for their participation in and support for China-US exchanges and cooperation and Chinas rural revitalization. He encouraged them to continue to care about Chinas development， work with Chinese partners —including the CPAFFC — actively fulfill their social responsibilities， forge friendship bridges between the Chinese and American people and build broad consensus， leaving no audience for American politicians who talk big.

Lin invited the ACCC and American companies in China to visit Fujian and Shanxi provinces and other places in the near future， and he invited top company representatives to visit China， when epidemic prevention and control conditions permit， to enhance mutually beneficial economic and trade cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between China and the US.