[By Jiao Haiyang/China.org.cn]

China-US relations developed well and made new progress in 2013. First, President Xi Jinping and President Barack Obama met at the Sunnylands, California in early June. Xi proposed to build a new model of major-country relations with the United States based on avoidance of conflict and confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, to which Obama responded warmly. The Sunnylands summit, in particular the agreement to seek a new model of relations, will set the tone for China-US relations in the next decade.

In September, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi gave a speech at the Brookings Institution titled “Toward a New Model of Major-Country Relations Between China and the United States”. Wang stressed that the avoidance of conflict and confrontation is the prerequisite for the new model of relations, mutual respect is the basic principle and win-win cooperation is the only way to turn the vision into a reality. US National Security Adviser Susan Rice stated in a November speech that “When it comes to China, we seek to operationalize a new model of major-power relations. That means managing inevitable competition while forging deeper cooperation on issues where our interests converge – in Asia and beyond”.

The Sunnylands summit reveals a more proactive China that seeks to shape the future of China-US relations. By proposing a new model of relations, China shows it has realized that it must work to set the agenda and make the rules. A more confident and proactive China will help to make China-US relations more balanced. At Sunnylands, the two sides agreed to have more retreat meetings and in-depth dialogue at the top level. The China-US relationship will no doubt continue to evolve and expand and it will be fraught with challenges and problems. However, the presidential agreement to build a new model of relations has sent a clear message to the world: China and the United States can become partners in cooperation, and no one should expect to gain from a confrontation between the two.

During the Cold War, China and the United States came together to deal with the Soviet threat. Today, the two countries need not oppose anybody; they just need to build a new world order from which both can benefit. Establishing a new model of major-country relations that is in the long-term interests of both countries and the peace and prosperity of the world – this vision will provide a new driving force for the China-US relationship.

Second, bilateral economic ties expanded steadily and the two countries launched Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) negotiations. A stabilizer of China-US relations, the bilateral trade ties have been growing rapidly; still there is a lot of untapped potential. This augurs well for the relationship in the post-financial crisis world. Two-way trade has exceeded 500 billion US dollars; mutual investment has topped 80 billion US dollars. According to the latest report from the China-US Exchange Foundation, the two countries will become each other’s top trading partner in 2022, and two-way investment will prove to be an area of strong growth. At the fifth round of the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue in July, the two sides agreed to launch the BIT – a treaty signed between two countries to protect and promote bilateral investment activities – negotiations on the basis of pre-establishment national treatment and a negative list approach. A high-standard BIT will serve the interests of both China and the United States and help to upgrade their economic ties.

The Third Plenum of the Communist Party of China unveiled the roadmap for China’s development in the next decade and beyond and sent out clear signals of the Chinese leadership’s commitment to reform and opening-up. The recently concluded annual Economic Work Conference mapped out the economic blueprint in China’s inaugural year of “comprehensively deepening reform”. Both conferences will give a strong boost to the economic relationship between the world’s two largest economies.