Sino-US talks enhance understanding, underline the value of dialogue

From Geneva in May 2025 to Paris in March 2026, China and the United States have held five rounds of economic and trade talks and are now conducting the sixth. The trail of their bilateral negotiations stretches across the Eurasian continent, reflecting both the complexity of the issues involved and the determination of the two sides to keep talking.

The results so far show that these talks have gradually enhanced mutual understanding and helped both sides find common ground on a number of difficult issues. In Geneva, London and Stockholm, the two countries agreed to suspend the additional 24 percent tariffs, easing tensions in bilateral trade and sending a reassuring signal to global markets. In Madrid, the two sides reached a basic framework consensus on the TikTok issue. Later, in Kuala Lumpur, they expanded agricultural trade and advanced cooperation on the fentanyl problem. Each of these topics touches on important economic and social interests for both nations, and the progress made on such sensitive matters demonstrates the sincerity of the negotiating teams and their willingness to seek pragmatic solutions.

Perhaps more importantly, these rounds of talks have effectively established a pattern of face-to-face dialogue between China and the United States. The fact that Chinese and US delegations can sit at the same table and discuss issues of shared concern is itself valuable. Direct exchanges help dispel misunderstandings that remote communication often fails to resolve and foster expectations that dialogue will continue.

As the world's two largest economies, it is natural for China and the US to have differences. Yet experience has shown that when two sides sit down and talk, it becomes possible to reach meaningful consensus and practical agreements.

Such a mechanism of sustained in-person consultation is particularly valuable at a time of global turbulence. Conflicts in regions such as the Middle East have pushed oil prices higher and added volatility to energy markets, while many economies are erecting or strengthening trade barriers to protect domestic interests, placing additional pressure on global growth. Against this backdrop, China and the US engaging in candid dialogue sends an encouraging message.

The ongoing consultations suggest that both sides attach importance to each other's concerns and recognize the value of cooperation. Continued dialogue will not eliminate all differences, but it can help manage them, reduce uncertainty and contribute to a more stable global economic environment.

More importantly, whether the world's two largest economies — China and the US — choose cooperation or confrontation will have a profound impact on the global economy. China has consistently been committed to safeguarding the international economic and trade order, and the whole world hopes the US will work in the same direction to contribute to the shared interests of both countries and the broader global community.

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