Not afraid of a trade war 

There are still quite a few uncertainties regarding Sino-U.S. economic and trade relations. Some people believe that trade disputes would damage China's economy, and the risk of a large-scale trade war with the United States would force China to accept unreasonable demands. But in fact, even if an extensive trade war occurs between China and the United States, it will not drag down China's status in the international economic system. Given all that, China will not be coerced into accepting unreasonable terms in future trade conflicts and negotiations.

So far, China has made great strides in its attempts to catch up economically. As the world's second largest economy, largest manufacturer and goods exporter, the output of China's equipment manufacturing industry accounted for one third of the world's total in 2013, with a quite complete set of industrial sectors in place.

Despite that, economic growth fluctuations are inevitable. It's therefore unnecessary to compare China's growth rate with historical figures amidst the worldwide economic and trade slowdown—China should be compared to other major countries instead. As long as China grows faster than other countries, its status in the international economic system will ascend, preventing China from being outpaced.

Since the breakout of the 2008 global financial crisis, external economic and financial crises have provided opportunities for China to push forward industrial upgrading and get rid of external economic shock. Why? During a crisis, all countries experience a decrease in absolute growth. However, in competent countries and industries, relative growth expands despite the general economic slowdown. When they outpace their rivals, they are more likely to harvest a larger share of the available profits when the economy recovers.

For instance, China's economy grew 13 percent while the global economy was still prosperous in 2007—5 percentage points faster than its major competitors. During the recession, the country's growth slowed to 8 percent, while its competitors dropped to 1 percent or even negative growth. China has thus outpaced its competitors. Therefore, global economic crises are a good opportunity for countries with China's capacity to resist risks, since they can weed out rivals amid a worldwide slowdown.

Since the outbreak of the 2008 global financial crisis, China's share in the world economy and trade has risen significantly. In 2007, China's GDP accounted for 10.8 percent of the world total and 24.8 percent of emerging economies' total GDP, while its exports accounted for 7.8 percent of the world total and 23.2 percent of emerging economies' total exports. In 2015, its GDP took up 17.3 percent of the world output and 30 percent of that of emerging economies while the share of its exports rose to 11.6 percent of the world total and 31.7 percent of that of emerging economies, according to data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In the first decade of the 21st century, Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa were deemed the most promising emerging markets likely to surpass China. But as a result of a series of economic fluctuations in the past few years, China's economic growth has far exceeded theirs. As a result, China's proportion in the economic aggregate of BRICS nations keeps expanding.

Now, China and the United States' economic status indicate that, should a large-scale trade dispute break out between them, a global trade recession would emerge. On the other side, even if the trade disputes get out of control, China's status in the international economic system would not suffer, and other emerging countries are much less likely to surpass China.

Given that China's position in the world would remain intact even in the worst-case scenario, in future negotiations, China's counterparts should not threaten the start of a trade war. The best way to handle such issues is through open and fair negotiations.

Copyedited by Bryan Michael Galvan 

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