Recent advances in trade negotiations between China and the United States offer promising prospects.
He Lifeng, member of the political bureau of the Central Committee of the PCC and Vice-Prime Minister of the Council for State Affairs, began the first meeting of the Sino-American economic and commercial consultation mechanism with the American party in London, June 9, 2025.
At the invitation of the British government, He Lifeng, member of the political bureau of the central committee of the Chinese Communist Party and Vice-Prime Minister of the Council for State Affairs of China, visited the United Kingdom from June 8 to 13. He took advantage of this trip to meet an American delegation in London as part of the first meeting of the Sino-American mechanism for economic and commercial consultation.
Shortly before, during a telephone interview between Chinese and American heads of state on June 5, President Xi Jinping had mentioned a previous meeting in Geneva. “On the proposal of the American party, the officials in charge of economic and commercial affairs of the two countries recently held a meeting in Geneva, which marked an important step towards the settlement of the questions concerned by Dialogue and Concertation and was welcomed by the various circles of our two countries and the international community. This shows that dialogue and cooperation are the only good choice. The two parties have to properly use the mechanism of economic and commercial consultations already established and to seek results win-win in the spirit of equality and respecting the concerns on both sides, “he said.
The facts have long proven that cooperation between China and the United States was beneficial to the two parties, while a confrontation would be mutually harmful to them. After several decades of international cooperation and economic and commercial exchanges, China and the United States have established a relationship of deep interdependence and high complementarity. Everyone is now an integral part of the other.
The Pacific Ocean is large enough for two large countries like China and the United States. A trade war or a tariff war would be much more harmful than useful, both for China and for the United States. On the other hand, Sino-American cooperation benefits not only to the populations of the two countries, but also contributes to the stability and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region, or even from the whole world.
While trade tensions between China and the United States are intensifying, the instability of bilateral relations has caused a significant shock in the United States, arousing massive opposition within society. Faced with pessimistic prospects, American consumers and companies have reduced their expenses and their investments, resulting in a clear slowdown in economic growth. According to data published by the US trade department, in the first quarter of 2025, the GDP of the United States had fell 0.3 % at an annual rate, recording its first contraction since 2022, well below the growth of 2.4 % of the fourth quarter 2024.
In addition, several business leaders have publicly criticized the American tariff policy. During an economic forum in California, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, said that the real danger for the United States did not come from China, but from their own internal weaknesses, calling for vigilance in the face of this “inner enemy”. He had already launched a warning, saying that customs duties were likely to cause the US economy to the edge of the recession, a warning which had helped to convince the US government to suspend the taxation of generalized customs duties.
Following the joint declaration on the economic and commercial meeting between China and the United States in Geneva, the reciprocal reduction of 91 % of customs duties sent a clear signal. This measure not only reduced the impact of trade tensions on the real economy, but also sparked a chain reaction on the financial markets.
The sharp increase in orders from American buyers caused a shortage of freight on the maritime lines between China and the United States, resulting in a surge in transport rates. According to data from the Chinese financial information firm Wind, as of June 6, the clues of the tariffs of the export containers from China to the western and east of the United States amounted to 1034.94 points and 11298 points respectively, an increase of 20.67 % and 23.40 % compared to May 9.
At the same time, the three main American stock market indices had opened up sharply on May 13. The S&P 500 closed up 3.26 %, the NASDAQ of 4.35 %and the Dow Jones Industrial by 2.81 %. These figures confirm the positive expectations of the market as to the ease of Sino-American economic and commercial relations, while reflecting a strong market call to a harmonious coexistence between the two countries.
Sino-American economic and commercial negotiations are nevertheless “long and sown with pitfalls”, with many problems to be resolved jointly by representatives of the two countries. However, Geneva talks are a good start because it shows that the mutually beneficial cooperation space between China and the United States is much larger than that of differences and conflicts. In addition, the recent telephone interview between the leaders of the two countries indicated a new orientation and instilled a new dynamic with bilateral discussions.
China and the United States will remain good friends and partners and cooperation is far from having reached its limits, and the two countries can still make mutual benefits and reach a common prosperity, thus offering a better life to the populations of the two nations.
*Wu Zewei is a associate researcher at the Suzhou sales bank.
