Relations between China and the U.S. are currently strained and subtle. Conflict is inevitable, but in the long-run, there are more grounds for deep cooperation on issues of common concern and mutual interest between the two countries.

When talking about China-U.S. relations, most debates concern the economy. Over the years, China and the United States have developed indivisible links economically.

Official statistics published by the Office of the United States Trade Representative show that China is currently the country's largest goods trading partner, with 635.4 billion U.S. dollars in total of two-way goods trade in 2017.

Meanwhile, according to statistics from China's Ministry of Commerce, the United States was China's second-biggest services trade partner. The two countries have both benefited noticeably from economic cooperation.

But still, many will emphasize the trade deficit between the two countries. The U.S. goods trade deficit with China was 375.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2017. Some experts or politicians in the United States may see China as an adversary if they consider the two countries are in zero-sum competition, with the deficit benefiting China and harming the United States.

But this is from the perspective of the sectors that compete against imports, claiming this trade deficit caused a shutdown of domestic businesses and an increase in unemployment. But we can look back on the case of steel tariffs imposed by former U.S. President George W. Bush in 2003. The move brought an increase in steel prices and resulted in the loss of 200,000 American jobs. 

If each country imposes tariffs on the other, it will lead to a lose-lose situation. Tariffs don't work.

Nowadays, nearly half of U.S. imports are intermediate goods which are mostly used as part of the production process or sold as outputs to other companies around the world.

If one company is affected by tariffs, it can move its production to another country, or even to the United States, which some Chinese companies already did. A more pragmatic approach is to foster a healthy and win-win trade and economic cooperation between the two nations.

Since China has put forward the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), there are opportunities for economic cooperation for China and the United States. The BRI has the potential to meet infrastructure needs in developing countries and to contribute to security and stability to many regions.

The U.S. government can constructively participate in this long-term project. In the process of implementing the BRI, improved infrastructure and increased economic growth as a result of China's involvement can open up markets and opportunities for investors and traders from the United States and other countries who are currently difficult to reach. This will deliver absolute gains.

There are other fields that China and the United States can always find common goals and some of the issues are unsolvable for now and can only be managed by cooperation.

Take East Asia for example. Stability in East Asia is a goal the United States and China both share and the two countries have contributed a lot to achieve the ends of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. But the problem for the United States in dealing with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is that it has little leverage over Kim Jong Un, economically or politically, because the DPRK has isolated itself from most parts of the world.

Even though the current U.S. administration takes China as a strategic competitor, it recognizes that China has mechanisms which can potentially compel Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program. The United States cannot sustain pressure on the DPRK without China, and China-U.S. cooperation is the best way to the start of a denuclearization process.

Now, the United States and China may seem to have a period of increased tensions, but there are areas where the two countries face common threats, such as climate change, nuclear proliferation, and economic stability. And a burgeoning trade and a positive-sum relationship will bring substantial benefits to both sides.