In the midst of many uncertainties about the China-US relationship - the most important bilateral relationship in the contemporary world - Chinese President Xi Jinping held his first ever meeting with his US counterpart, Donald Trump.

During the deep-going and long-lasting conversation, Xi emphasized that there are “a thousand reasons to make the China-US relationship work and no reason to break it”. Xi added a historical perspective on his vision of the bilateral relationship when he called for both sides to take political resolve to enhance China-US ties over the next 45 years. 

Many view Trump as a short-sighted and transactional leader who orients his policy agenda in line with the “America First” doctrine. However, since taking office, he has demonstrated some sophistication and prudence when it comes to US policy towards China.

Trump said to Xi that the US and China bear heavy responsibilities as major countries in the world, and he hoped to establish a sound working relationship with Xi for the greater development of their bilateral relationship. In the words of Rex Tillerson, US Secretary of State, both sides need to “have a fresh conversation about what will define the relationship between the US and China for the next 50 years.” 

Indeed, the normalization of the China-US relationship in the 1970s changed the world significantly. By easing the hostility between the two countries after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, it helped trigger the process of ending the Cold War.

Though full of ups and downs, historic progress and enormous mutual benefits have been made with the China-US relationship in the past 45 years. Partly with facilitation by the US side, China “stepped into globalization” with membership of the World Trade Organization in 2001. Two-way trade between the US and China was merely 2.5 billion US dollars in 1979, and this figure reached 519.6 billion dollars in 2016. 

No doubt, globalization is doomed to be a story of the good, the bad and the ugly. Although many people across the world complain about the negatives associated with globalization, the world is expected to be more interconnected in years to come. The big question is how we can fix the problems stemming from globalization rather than simply giving up on it.

As Xi Jinping argued in his keynote speech delivered at the World Economic Forum 2017, what the world needs is more robust, inclusive, and balanced globalization. It entails continuous and joint efforts by developed and developing countries in seeking a win-win approach, confronting the inequalities and empowering global governance. 

China and the US should exert their leadership to ensure the stability and prosperity of the world, and the development of the China-US relationship must add certainties rather than uncertainties to global affairs.

As Xi emphasized, cooperation is the only right choice for China and the US, and the two countries are capable of becoming great cooperative partners. To navigate the bilateral relationship more effectively, high-level mechanisms for dialogue and cooperation in such areas as diplomacy and security, economy, law enforcement and cyber security, as well as social and people-to-people exchanges have been established. 

Moreover, China and the US will set up a priority list of pragmatic cooperation in the fields of infrastructure construction and energy, which are focal points of the Trump administration’s economic policy agenda. The two sides will also push forward with negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty. 

The first Xi-Trump meeting indicates how the two countries are committed to boosting bilateral ties in a new era. As history suggests, the benefits of China-US cooperation are far more than the differences. With mutual respect and a cooperative mindset, the two countries can make a large contribution to history, for the sake of the people of China and the US, and the world at large. 

(Dr. Zhao Minghao is a research fellow at the China Center for Contemporary World Studies and a member of the China National Committee, Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP). The article reflects the author's opinion, not necessarily the view of CGTN.)