Zero-sum mindset risks opening a Pandora's box

While Chinese and the US officials have indicated the two sides are willing to talk to end their trade frictions and pull the world's top two economies back from the brink of a trade war, that merely addresses the symptoms rather than the underlying illness that bedevils relations.

As White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said on Wednesday, the United States' offensive is not only about trade, it's also focused on protecting the US' leading position in high-tech industries such as robotics, advanced information technology and aviation, industries which China has identified in its Made in China 2025 strategy as the focus for the country's future development.

That China's strategy has spooked the US can be seen from the report released last week by the Office of the United States Trade Representative, which presented the results of its Section 301 investigation into what the US alleges are China's unfair trade practices - this report refers to Made in China 2025 more than 100 times in 200 pages.