Dispelling distrust across the Pacific

S&ED will boost economic collaboration, but China and the US should also strive for results from their talks on strategic issues

Given the complicated bilateral relations between China and the United States, the ongoing sixth round of their Strategic and Economic Dialogue taking place in Beijing offers a timely opportunity for Beijing and Washington to exchange views on crucial economic and security issues of mutual concern.

The S&ED has been designed, as its name suggests, for the two countries to discuss both economic and strategic matters. But over the past five rounds of talks, the economic aspect has tended to overshadow the strategic one, as military and security issues are typically more sensitive than economic and trade ones. Each of the previous dialogues yielded a long list of areas for greater cooperation, ranging from climate change to energy security, and from trade balancing to investment.