A new opportunity to expand Sino-US trade

The upcoming meeting between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump is expected to further deepen China-US cooperation and draw a new map for bilateral ties in the "New Era", which, according to Xi, China has already entered.

The trade imbalance between China and the United States is an issue that both countries have been making serious efforts to resolve. Since communication and cooperation are integral to resolve the issue and improve Sino-US ties, the two countries need to launch economic structural reforms in accordance with their real conditions.

China is further opening its market, so accordingly the US should ease the control on exports that, in reality, restricts its trade competitiveness. Moreover, not only China but also other East Asian economies have a trade surplus with the US. And to a certain extent, China has a trade surplus with the US because it exports large quantity of finished products to the US and other Western economies.

Therefore, a more extensive bilateral investment regime, including a chain of labor division and cooperation, is required to reduce China's trade surplus with the US. So if Xi and Trump restart the negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty, and ultimately reach a consensus, China-US trade will make more balanced progress.

Since the US and China are the two largest economies of the world, their economic cooperation will not only benefit the two countries, but also help expedite the recovery of the global economy and facilitate its long-term stable development.

In addition to addressing global economic issues, Xi and Trump are expected to draw up long-term plans for China-US relations at a time when both countries have reached a turning point. The US has changed its attitude toward globalization since Trump took office in January, while China has been playing a more active role in global governance, and pushing for more free and convenient trade and investment. Also, China has been planning a new round of opening-up－for example, further opening up its services industry, including the financial sector.

China has also been working to improve the current global governance system, in order to upgrade multilateral rules for capital flow, technology transfer, as well as mobility of labor and personnel. And it is willing to help improve the international trade and investment rules through negotiation, which would be beneficial both for China and the US. As such, with better communication and deeper cooperation, China and the US can play leading roles in improving the rules for global trade and investment.

The author is a professor at the University of International Business and Economics, and director of China Society for World Trade Organization Studies.