Reciprocity key to Sino-German cooperation

The world media's attention is focused on the on-going G20 Leaders Summit in Hamburg, Germany. But there seems to be little momentum going into Hamburg. The air has been let out of the global summitry balloon.

Last year, China as the summit host had the good fortune of building on the Paris climate change agreement adopted in December 2015 and signed in April 2016. China also did a lot of advanced diplomacy, and invested heavily in the gala.

This time, the governments of many of the leading economies are focused instead on domestic issues. The biggest deflator is the United States, where President Donald Trump's fixation on putting "America First" and preference for state-to-state bargaining have left the US in a spoiler role.