With a little give and take, dialogue can bear fruit

There were a number of practical outcomes from the meeting between the US and Chinese presidents in Florida back in April. Among them are a 100-day economic plan for cooperation between the world's two largest economies and the restructuring of their wide-ranging high-level dialogues into four more focused dialogue mechanisms, including one on their economic ties.

As the first round of China-US Comprehensive Economic Dialogue commenced in Washington DC on Wednesday, it was encouraging to note that since the two countries initiated their discussions on the 100-day economic plan, they have made headway in narrowing some of the divergences between them. More important, the intensive engagement over the 100 days is said to have helped the respective economic teams build trust.

There are expectations, therefore, that the economic dialogue will make more progress in easing trade frictions and bridging the differences that exist between the two sides.