New thinking in Sino-US strategic ties

Exactly forty years ago, under the circumstances of virtually no economic, social and cultural exchanges, China and the United States, out of respective security needs, embarked on the process of normalization of their bilateral relations. Today, the China-US relationship has grown into the most complex bilateral international relationship in world history. Standing on the global strategic height and at the new point of departure of the history of mankind, we should reassess the nature and future of the China-US relationship, and try to usher in new thinking in international politics.

I. The Rising Prominence of and Severe Tests Facing China-US Relations

After entering the 21st century, especially since the 2008 international financial crisis, the world situation has become increasingly complicated and in flux. Against such a background, two prominent features stand out in today's China-US relations. First, China, after having successfully dealt with the crisis and with continuous expansion of its economy, has promptly come to the center stage of international politics and global governance. Second, the global financial crisis has taken heavy tolls on the economies and financial systems of the United States and the European Union. While the recovery of the Western economies is going to be a tortuous and slow progress, it has been further overshadowed by the ongoing Euro crisis. Under such circumstances, the United States intends to strengthen cooperation with China to overcome its difficulties, and expects China to assume a greater share of "international responsibility." Meanwhile, China is willing to make greater contributions to the restoration of global financial stability and the recovery of global economy with the aim of assuaging the wariness and concerns of the United States and other parts of the world about China's growing power. Now the total size of the Chinese and American economies and the total foreign trade volume of the two countries have amounted to one-third and one -fifth of those of the whole world, respectively. Consequently, the internal development and external strategy of China and the United States, as well as their bilateral relations, have an increasingly important impact on international politics and world economy. Both Chinese and American leaders are of the view that the China-US relationship has become "the most important bilateral relationship in the world."