Lobsters at core of a tasty China-US story

Lobsters caught by fishermen on Little Cranberry Island in Maine in the United States in the morning can be had for dinner by Chinese families the next evening. The lobster and shrimp farming industry in Maine, which despite its history of more 150 years faced an uncertain future because of overcapacity, has been revitalized by Chinese consumers' strong demand.

The "lobster story" recently reported by The Washington Post is not only about Chinese consumers' vital role in the revival of a US industry, but also about mutual beneficial cooperation.

That China-US interdependence in trade is based on win-win cooperation and mutual benefit is evident in the "lobster story". The volume of China-US trade was less than $13 million in 1972, the year when bilateral ties started thawing thanks to then US president Richard Nixon's visit to China. Last year, the bilateral trade volume reached nearly $520 billion. In 1979, when the two countries officially established diplomatic relations, Chinese people's impression of US products was largely limited to a "foamy drink called Coca-Cola".