Landmark trade talks between China and the United States
concluded in Beijing on Friday, reflecting the increased
interaction between the two countries this year, albeit against a
backdrop of trade frictions.
"China and the United States have never been closer in their
understanding of what form their diplomatic relationship should
take," said Tao Wenzhao, a research fellow in American Studies of
the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Chinese President Hu Jintao made his intentions clear during his
state visit to the United States in April. "Sharing extensive and
important common strategic interests, our nations should be not
only stakeholders, but also constructive cooperators," Hu said at
the time.
In response, US President George Bush acknowledged that the
Sino-US trade relationship had "become even stronger".
Several inaugural events served to strengthen relations between
China and the United States in 2006.
The administrator of National Aeronautics and Space
Administration of the United States Michael Griffin visited China
to boost Sino-US space cooperation this September, the
highest-ranking US space official to visit China in the last 12
years.
Two months later, the navies of China and the United States held
their first ever joint search-and-rescue exercise on the South
China Sea.
New records have also been set in the economic sector. China is
now the United States' third largest trading partner and its
fastest-growing exports market. In the first ten months of this
year, the trade volume between the two countries reached nearly
US$214.52 billion, with US exports to China up by 23.8 percent, the
first step towards reducing the huge trade imbalance between the
two countries.
The two countries also conducted dialogue to try and deal with
international issues, particularly after North Korea's nuclear
test.
The Bush administration also reiterated their adherence to the
one-China policy and their opposition to Taiwan independence.
"China and the US are building a two-way relationship based on
common interests," said Yuan Peng, a US studies expert with Beijing
University.
"Many exchanges have occurred in scientific, cultural and
military fields which showed that Sino-US ties are developing
soundly, something which used to be achieved only through top-level
exchanges," Yuan said.
However, trade frictions have hindered the strengthening of
relations between the two countries.
China's soaring exports have sparked trade rows over a number of
Chinese products including textiles, shoes, televisions and auto
parts. The Ministry of Commerce said 23 countries and regions,
including the United States, launched 70 anti-dumping and
anti-subsidy investigations against China in the first three
quarters of the year.
But Yuan was keen to play down the impact of the disagreements.
"Looking at the whole picture of the improvement of the Sino-US
ties, trade friction is natural," he said.
The victory by the Democrats in the US mid-term elections in
November provoked some commentators to cast doubts over the future
development of China-US relations.
But Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao quelled the concerns, telling
visiting US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez that he realized
the development of China-US relations had always been "the
consensus of the Democrats and Republicans of the United States as
well as the two peoples".
A direct flight from Beijing to Washington will be inaugurated
in 2007 and it is highly symbolic. Next year marks the 35th
anniversary of Richard Nixon's ice-breaking visit to China, and
reaching further consensus on trade issues will be crucial for both
nations.
(Xinhua News Agency December 18, 2006)
