Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, May 12th　Title: China-US Economic and Trade Talks to Relieve Pressure and Increase Credit for Global Economy

  Xinhua News Agency reporter Ye Shuhong

  The high-level economic and trade talks between China and the United States were held in Switzerland from the 10th to the 11th, and have attracted great attention from the international community. Through the joint efforts of both sides, China and the United States have conducted candid, in-depth and constructive communication in many fields, reached a series of important consensuses, made substantial progress, and took an important step to resolve differences through equal dialogue and consultation, laying the foundation and creating conditions for further bridging differences and deepening cooperation.

  The total economic output of China and the United States exceeds one-third of the world, and bilateral trade volume accounts for about one-fifth of the world. The economic and trade relations between the two countries are of great significance to the two countries and have an important impact on global economic stability and development. The current global economic recovery is hindered and geopolitical conflicts are frequent. The importance of maintaining communication channels between China and the United States is self-evident. The ability of the world's two largest economies to sit back to the negotiating table itself sends a positive signal to the international community. The Swiss talks were held and substantial progress was an important attempt by both sides to manage differences and seek consensus under the complex international economic situation. The two sides agreed to establish a China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism. World Trade Organization Director-General Ivera praised the "positive results" of the high-level economic and trade talks between China and the United States, believing that this is an important step forward.

  Looking back on the past month, the tariff war unilaterally launched by the United States has had an impact on the economies of China, the United States and even the global economy. American companies and consumers are the first to bear the extra costs brought by the imposition of tariffs. The supply chains of multiple industries have been disturbed and inflationary pressures have continued to rise. Looking more broadly, this tariff war has disrupted the stability of the global industrial chain and supply chain, undermined the rules-based multilateral trade order, and exacerbated the risk of recession in the global economy. International institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have repeatedly warned that trade protectionism is one of the main threats to the global economic recovery. The talks undoubtedly reduced the gloom for the global economy at a crossroads.

  The talks and positive results have also proved once again that equal dialogue should be the basic attitude of solving problems among major powers. As two major countries with different national conditions, there will inevitably be some differences between China and the United States. The key is to respect each other's core interests and major concerns and find a solution to the problem properly. Through the equal dialogue mechanism, China and the United States can clearly express their attitude towards their respective main concerns, clarify relevant facts, explain the reasons for the concern, explore the factors leading to the relevant problems, and discuss possible solutions. Problems that arise in development must be solved by development, and problems that arise in the short term may no longer be a problem from a medium- and long-term perspective. In fact, no country will give up its reasonable development interests in order to cater to or meet the unreasonable requirements of other countries, but this does not prevent both parties from finding possible solutions through equal dialogue.

  The reason why the two sides can reach a series of important consensus is that the underlying driving force comes from the mutual benefit and win-win nature of Sino-US economic and trade relations. In the past few decades, China and the United States have "benefited, both profitable, and fights will hurt both". The two sides have a high degree of complementarity in terms of economic structure, resource endowment, market demand, etc., and the space for cooperation is far greater than differences. Whether it is trade in goods, trade in services or two-way investment, it has brought tangible benefits to the enterprises and people of both countries. China has always advocated that the only correct way to resolve the differences and frictions in the economic and trade relations between the two countries is to find solutions that are acceptable to each other on the basis of mutual respect through equal and rational dialogue and consultation. Any unilateral pressure or extreme blackmail will not only not help solve the problem, but will instead make the situation more complicated and harm the fundamental interests of both sides.

  This talks can be seen as an opportunity for China to explain this core concept again to the United States. Through full communication and even confrontation, we must not only make the US clearly realize that there is no winner in the trade war, and China is unwilling to fight, but it is not afraid of fighting, and always firmly safeguards the core interests of the country and international fairness and justice; we must also let the US examine bilateral relations from a longer-term perspective and fully realize that maintaining the healthy, stable and sustainable development of China-US economic and trade relations is in line with the fundamental interests of the two countries and the people of both countries, and is also conducive to global economic growth. Carrying constructive cooperation with China and jointly expanding the cooperation cake is far more in line with the long-term interests of the United States itself than trying to curb China's development through pressure. To promote China-US economic and trade relations to return to the track of healthy, stable and sustainable development, both sides need to work together and move towards each other.

  The holding of this talks is a positive trend in China-US economic and trade relations, laying the foundation for subsequent communication and negotiations. However, the freezing of three feet is not a day long, and structural contradictions and deep-seated differences between China and the United States still exist, and solving these problems cannot be achieved overnight. We should have rational expectations about the direction of China-US economic and trade relations during this talks and even in the future. Being able to sit down and talk is a necessary attitude to avoid escalation of conflicts. But it is obviously unrealistic to expect that all differences can be completely eliminated through one or two meetings. We are happy to see the restart of dialogue, and we are also fully prepared for the long-term, complex and difficult nature of eliminating differences between China and the United States. Both sides need to maintain the current momentum of dialogue, manage differences, accumulate consensus, and strengthen trust in equal consultation.

  Both China and the United States should start from the fundamental well-being of the peoples of the two countries and the overall situation of world peace and prosperity, and handle the most important bilateral relationship in the world with a longer-term vision and a broader mind. Strengthening cooperation on the basis of mutual benefit and win-win results and controlling differences under the premise of mutual respect is not only the responsibility of China and the United States, but also the general expectation of the international community. This talk is a step in the long journey, and the road ahead still requires both sides to explore and shape together with wisdom and courage.

[Editor in charge: Wang Xue]