| If a question were asked of what China's most important foreign relations are, most Chinese would name Sino-American ties among their sure answers. Indeed, this relationship is of crucial importance to both China and the United States, as it is closely related to the basic interests of the two nations and determines, in one way or another, the course of the changing scenarios of contemporary international relations.
Of overall China-U.S. relations, bilateral trade and economic ties have grown in significance in recent years. Maintaining a strong relationship in these areas is key to sustaining domestic and global economic growth and makes up a cornerstone for enhanced bilateral relations in a broader sense and on a larger scale. Another reason for this growing significance may be attributed to the complexity and sensitivity of this relationship: fast growing and mutually beneficial on the one hand but bringing upon both parties controversies and frictions on the other hand. Hence the launch of the high-level China-U.S. Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED), inaugurated by the two sides in Beijing last December and scheduled for a second round in Washington from May 23-24, a working mechanism widely regarded as an effective way of enhancing understanding, spotting convergence of mutual interests and seeking common grounds for bettering bilateral trade and economic ties.
Many Chinese analysts expect the inclusion of some identical or similar topics in the upcoming round of SED, as in the first round, such as the growing trade imbalance, intellectual property rights (IPR) protection, the appreciation of the RMB and further market deregulations, mostly seen by America as barriers to furthering bilateral trade and economic cooperation. While these issues invariably lead to controversies and frictions, they are often biased or misinterpreted. For instance, some U.S. lawmakers have pressured China to appreciate its currency as a way of easing America's trade deficit, disregarding the fact that the growing imbalance is largely a result of global industrial readjustments; others have insisted on China's further opening domestic financial and other markets, neglecting the country's painstaking efforts to honor its WTO commitments in these respects, and without taking into consideration the potential dangers for some local industries when the market is fully opened to outsiders. These are deemed unfair and even impractical for developing nations like China.
As a country in historical transition, China is faced with many difficulties and problems in its economy, including IPR protection and environmental issues. It not only needs foreign capital, advanced technology and managerial expertise to prop up its takeoff, but also requires a peaceful and win-win environment for its external economic relations. For these reasons, the country has done what is possible to ease its disputes with foreign countries, including the U.S., as in the case of concluding $16.21 billion worth of government procurement contracts last April, and the forthcoming dispatch of another 100-strong member business delegation to sign up lucrative purchase deals with American companies.
With highly complementary economic structures and reciprocal resource allocations, both China and the U.S. have gained huge benefits from bilateral business contacts through the past decades. A sound and ever improving trade and economic relationship is in keeping with the mutual aspirations and interests of both China and the U.S., while antagonism will only cause possible damage to their respective economies, or even put global economic development at potential risk.
In a recent telephone conversation between Chinese President Hu Jintao and US President George Bush, both leaders acknowledged the positive impact of the first SED meeting. Let us hope round two can be crowned with equal success. |
