What does the new positioning of a “constructive and strategically stable” China-US relationship reveal about the future of bilateral ties? How will the Xi-Trump summit shape trade cooperation, geopolitical competition and crisis management between the world’s two largest economies?
Professor Wang Dong of Peking University shares his analysis in interviews with Hong Kong China News Agency and The Straits Times following the Beijing summit.
On the morning of May 15, Chinese President Xi Jinping held a small-group meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at Zhongnanhai, during which the two sides jointly established the new positioning of a “constructive and strategically stable” China-US relationship.
Wang Dong, professor at the School of International Studies at Peking University and executive director of the Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding (iGCU), gave interviews to Hong Kong China News Agency and The Straits Times, offering in-depth analysis of the new positioning of China-US relations and its significance.
He noted that under the guidance of a constructive and strategically stable China-US relationship, bilateral economic and trade cooperation is expected to move from a previous phase marked by generalized competition and frequent frictions toward a new stage characterized by orderly competition and cooperation, clear bottom lines and mutually beneficial outcomes.
Wang said that this new positioning of China-US relations “defines how the two major powers should coexist,” adding that it “sets clear guardrails for managing frictions while expanding shared interests.”
“Even though differences remain in areas such as advanced technology and geopolitics, both sides are now operating under this new framework of strategic consensus in order to avoid misjudgment and miscalculation,” he said.
Wang further analyzed the impact of the new positioning on bilateral economic and trade cooperation. He stated that future China-US economic cooperation entering a new stage is likely to be reflected in three aspects.
First, greater emphasis will be placed on institutionalized communication and the management of differences. Second, cooperation will focus more on structural optimization, quality improvement, balance and sustainability. Third, the scope of cooperation is expected to continue expanding.
This marks Trump’s first visit to China in nine years. Accompanying him are more than a dozen leading figures from the American business community, including NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang and Apple CEO Tim Cook, representing sectors such as technology, finance, aviation, agriculture and biomedicine.
On the evening of May 14, the Chinese side hosted a banquet at the Great Hall of the People to welcome Trump’s visit, where Chinese and American entrepreneurs appeared together, sending positive signals for deepening China-US economic and trade cooperation.
Professor Wang analyzed that if both sides can implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state and make full use of communication mechanisms such as the economic and trade working groups to achieve regularized engagement, it will help steadily expand bilateral trade and two-way investment while improving the quality of cooperation.
He predicted that enterprises from both countries would focus on cooperation in areas with strong complementarities, high compatibility and controllable risks, including advanced manufacturing and aviation, traditional energy and energy equipment, civilian semiconductors, computing power and artificial intelligence, financial services and cross-border investment, agricultural products and agricultural technology, as well as medicine and public health.
However, China-US economic and trade cooperation still faces practical challenges.
According to Wang, the Trump administration continues to face domestic obstacles regarding economic and trade cooperation with China, including certain political forces politicizing trade issues, interest groups pushing for “decoupling and disruption of industrial and supply chains,” and election cycles that may generate short-term policy fluctuations.
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