Cooperation key to resolving differences

China and the United States agreed to avoid raising trade tariffs after President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump reached a consensus over the issue at the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Saturday. The US agreed to not raise the tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports to 25 percent on Jan 1, 2019, and instead leave them at 10 percent. The two presidents also agreed to "step up negotiations" to fully eliminate all additional tariffs.

That such an agreement was reached after a nearly one-year-long bitter tariff conflict shows Beijing and Washington can find ways to end any bilateral row if they pay attention to each other's core concerns.

The fact is that China and the US both have benefited enormously from bilateral trade. The US has exported large amounts of agricultural goods, raw materials and hightech products such as chips that have fueled China's economic growth and created jobs while expanding the market for US products. On the other hand, US consumers have benefited greatly from the large quantities of inexpensive but good quality goods China has exported to the US.