How Ping-pong diplomacy broke the mold

Engaging each other

In a rapidly changing city, the Shanghai Disney Resort and electric vehicle giant Tesla's first overseas factory are among the signature facilities that best represent Sino-US mutual economic and cultural engagement.

The Disney venue has become the fastest-growing of the entertainment company's parks worldwide, and early this year it confirmed plans for new facilities under the theme of the Disney animation hit Zootopia.

On Aug 7, Tesla announced on Sina Weibo that construction of its factory in Shanghai was proceeding smoothly, and estimated that production could start at the end of the year.

Shanghai was also in the media spotlight in July, when it hosted the 12th round of the China-US high-level economic and trade consultations.

It was the first time the negotiations had been held in a city other than the two nations' capitals－Beijing and Washington. Some media commentators and observers said the negotiators were earnestly seeking breakthroughs and needed "more-enabling circumstances".

According to Chinese media reports, the Xijiao State Guest Hotel, which hosted the talks between Jiang and Bush in 2001, was the main venue for the discussions chaired by Vice-Premier Liu He, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on July 30 and 31.

The Ministry of Commerce said in a statement that the two sides had "candid, efficient and constructive in-depth exchanges" on major issues of common concern, and they discussed China buying US agricultural produce.

It was not the first time Shanghai had witnessed the two countries pushing ahead with talks on a critical economic and trade agenda.

In June 2001, negotiators from both sides for China's accession to the World Trade Organization met as Shanghai hosted the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting.

Shi Guangsheng, foreign trade minister at the time, said they "embarked on enduring negotiations" and reached key consensus on China's agricultural subsidies.

This played a vital role in resolving the issues that had not been settled in multilateral negotiations, Shi told the Shanghai newspaper Jiefang Daily in 2017.

China has been the US' top trading partner since 2015, and two-way investment has reached nearly $160 billion.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony at Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management in July, Shi said there was still considerable room for growth in this regard, and the bilateral trade friction was having an impact on the US which "cannot be underestimated".

Amid the current trade tension, Shi said US consumers pay for any additional tariffs that are imposed, and the drop in agricultural produce exported to China will damage the interests of US farmers.

This will "definitely affect US interests and even have a political impact", Shi added.

Policy insiders from both nations are calling for the removal of barriers to people-to-people exchanges, which have been affected by their tense relationship.

In May, The Associated Press reported that after more than a decade of rapid growth, the number of Chinese visitors to the US had fallen for the first time in 15 years.

During a meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Bangkok, the Thai capital, on Aug 1, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the two countries should expand cooperation in various fields and it was hoped that the US would facilitate, rather than create obstacles to, people-to-people exchanges between both nations.

Jan Berris, vice-president of the National Committee on US-China Relations, said, "I'm a strong believer in engagement and exchanges."

When Deng Xiaoping, the then-vice-premier, paid a symbolic visit to the US in February 1979, Berris was tasked with coordinating Chinese press activities. In the next four decades, she travelled to China more than 150 times.

"Despite the fact that the two governments don't have the best relationship at the moment, there can be－and there are－a great variety of exchanges going on at different levels that provide an opportunity for the Americans and the Chinese to learn about each other," she said.

Zhu Feng, dean of the School of International Relations at Nanjing University in Jiangsu province, said engaging more scholars and retired officials to embark on "track two" dialogues (unofficial discussions) could produce more in-depth, flexible and open debate, help boost contacts among think tanks, formulate policy advice and "avoid miscalculations on some major issues".

On Aug 16, the sound of ping-pong balls bouncing could be heard at the University of California's John Wooden Center in Los Angeles as the 58 members of the Chinese national team paid a 20-day visit to train with players from Team USA as trade tensions continued between the two countries.

Liu Guoliang, president of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, said: "It's the 48th anniversary of ping-pong diplomacy, so a strong foundation has been jointly developed by several generations of Chinese and American table tennis players and officials. I think our friendship and the spirit of pingpong diplomacy will continue."

Liu Yinming in Los Angeles contributed to this story