Engaging with US to make globalization great again

With possible continuation of American retrenchment and partial withdrawal from global engagement and the resultant shifting paradigm for globalization and global governance, China's role therein becomes more prominent and decisive. Expectations are on the rise as to what should and could China do to "make globalization great again". This will not only be an onerous task for China, but also have a great deal of impact on the future of globalization. Therefore among other things a few suggestions may be in order for China to play a greater role in globalization and global governance.

Let's turn our attention to China-US bilateral relations under Trump Administration.

We can draw up a list of what can possibly happen once Trump is in. They will include:

First, With "America First" and Trump's efforts to move manufacturing back to American soil, more trade and investment frictions, including dumping and countervailing cases between China and the US, will loom large on the horizon. Traditional bilateral trade will dip further, but not too much.

Second, In the same vein, when Trump withdraws US commitment to climate deal, implementation of Paris Agreement will face more headwinds and so will negotiations of multilateral trade regimes.

Third, As Trump is less ideological and more commercial than any other president in American history, China-US differences on human rights and other ideology-related differences will be less a trouble in bilateral relations.

Fourth, Geo-politically, with Trump's "make America great again" and his determination to increase US military spending, "rebalance to Asia-Pacific" will probably continue in particular with more concentration of US military power as deterrence to China.

If that is the case, East China Sea and South China Sea issues will not only remain, but tensions will even rise contrary to what many experts in China are predicting.

What can and should China do under such circumstances?

First, China could take the initiative to use the window of opportunity of a new president coming into office along with the process of policy reviews to engage the US in a discussion to understand each other's strategic intentions and core interests.

Second, China should continue to encourage the US to co-lead global governance through the United Nations, G20, APEC and other international and regional platforms to combat climate change, promote free trade and investment as well as implement the UN 2030 SDGs for the benefit of developing nations.

Third, With G20 Hangzhou Summit under the belt, China needs to consult proactively with the US and other members of G20, in particular the Troika, to continue providing new ideas about global governance including new models of international cooperation.

In sum, globalization is always an evolving process with inevitable ups and downs and not moving in a linear fashion. So is China-US relations in the last 37-38 years.

What we are witnessing today is not "the toss out of globalization" or "breaking down of China-US relations". Challenges and opportunities exist hand in hand.

Therefore we need concerted efforts more than ever before to ascertain the big trends as well as individual difficulties and work out consensus and solutions for collective actions to "make globalization great again". Here both China and the US will be playing a key role.

The author is Co-chair of Center for China and Globalization, and former vice-minister of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.