Establishing communication channels for the positive development of Sino US economic and trade relations

Since the beginning of this year, the intensive visits of high-level officials from the US government to China have attracted the attention of various sectors of global politics and business. On August 29th, Premier Li Qiang of the State Council, Vice Premier of the State Council, and China US Economic and Trade Leader He Lifeng met with US Commerce Secretary Raymond. On August 28th, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao held talks with Raymond. Earlier, on June 18, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken began his first visit to China since he took office; From July 6th to 9th, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited China; On July 16th, the US President's Special Envoy on Climate Issues, John Kerry, visited China. The signal released by Raymond's visit to China this time fills all parties with expectations for improving Sino US economic and trade relations.
'Face to face' dialogue is the prerequisite and foundation for conducting practical cooperation. Without dialogue, there is no trust, and both China and the United States have shown sincerity in cooperation. 'said Liu Bin, a researcher at the China World Trade Organization Research Institute at the University of International Business and Economics. From the results of this business meeting between China and the United States, there are two points worth noting: firstly, through dialogue mechanisms, we can reduce the uncertainty of trade policies; The second is to release the positive trend of Sino US economic and trade cooperation through signal effects. In his view, China and the United States are the "two engines" of the global economy and division of production. Cooperation in the economic and trade fields between the two countries will not only benefit their economic development, but also have strong driving and spillover effects, driving the recovery of the global economy and the deepening of division of production.
Zhu Feng, Executive Dean of the School of International Relations at Nanjing University, stated that based on the dialogue on the 28th, Raymond continued the positive trend of resuming high-level contacts between China and the United States since June. The most important goal of China's reception of Raymond's visit to China is to hope that the economic and trade relations between the two countries can return to normal track. Therefore, the two sides will engage in in-depth dialogue on many issues in the economic and trade field. But ultimately, it still depends on whether the Biden administration will continue to exert arbitrary pressure on China under the guise of "risk reduction" through Raymond's visit to China, and whether the United States will correct discriminatory policies towards China in the economic and technological fields.
Since 2018, the US has been striving to break away from its dependence on China in the supply chain. However, reality has proven that restricting US companies from investing in certain high-tech industries in China and engaging in "decoupling and chain breaking" is only a subjective assumption of the US government, and it does not meet the development aspirations of many US companies.

Recently, many American companies have continued to cast a vote of trust in the Chinese market through practical actions. American chip giant Intel has partnered with Shenzhen to establish the Intel Greater Bay Area Technology Innovation Center. Intel has also partnered with six local technology companies and signed agreements to establish multiple joint laboratories; Starbucks plans to open 9000 stores in China by 2025, making China the world's largest market for Starbucks; The CEOs of Intel, Qualcomm, and NVIDIA chip giants met with senior US government officials in July to oppose further restrictions on China. These companies are concerned that the new restrictions will sever their connection with China, the largest market, damage their R&D investment capacity, and ultimately weaken the dominant position of the United States in the chip industry.

The 2023 US Export to China Report released by the National Committee on US China Trade shows that US exports to China have created over 1 million jobs for the United States. In the past five years, the return on foreign direct investment in China has reached 9.1%, with over 70000 US companies investing and operating in China, of which nearly 90% have achieved profitability in their business operations.
A recent report by two American economists suggests that the United States may ultimately be unable to reduce its dependence on China's supply chain, as China remains embedded in the US supply chain. Although the United States has reduced direct imports from China, the industrial chain has been redistributed between China, Vietnam, and Mexico, and the indirect supply chain connection between the United States and China remains intact, even strengthened.
The US approach will not only harm the opportunities for fair competition among Chinese enterprises, but also disrupt the industry chain that currently relies heavily on global division of labor and cooperation. A free and fair international economic order and stable global division of labor and cooperation are the common aspirations and interests of the global business community. The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the China International Chamber of Commerce call on the US to respect the laws of market economy and the principles of fair competition, and take practical actions to maintain the security and stability of the global industry chain Sun Xiao, spokesperson for the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, stated at a press conference on August 30th.
In fact, there are economic and trade differences or frictions between countries, which are normal phenomena and can usually be resolved through regular communication and negotiation between governments. After more than four hours of talks between the Commerce Ministers of China and the United States, they agreed to establish a new communication channel and established a working group consisting of government officials at the deputy ministerial and bureau levels, with the participation of business representatives, to seek solutions to specific business problems.
In the current situation, any attempt to strengthen constructive communication between China and the United States is worthy of recognition, "said Chen Fengying, a researcher at the Institute of World Economics at the China Institute of Modern International Relations. The announcement by the Ministry of Commerce of China and the United States to establish a new communication channel is an effort to create a favorable policy environment for economic and trade exchanges between the two countries.
Liu Bin said that the establishment of the working group is a positive signal for improving China US economic and trade relations, which means the normalization of dialogue and channels. The establishment of the working group can to some extent resolve China US economic and trade differences and improve policy transparency. The key to promoting practical economic and trade cooperation between China and the United States is to abandon trade protectionism and promote trade liberalization.
When it comes to the prospects for the future after this Sino US engagement, experts generally hope that the working group established by China and the United States can make progress in resolving some specific issues, which will play a positive role in stabilizing Sino US economic and trade relations.