中文
By Nikola Mikovic
Lead: With U.S. trade tensions easing, China is strengthening ties throughout the Asia-Pacific, advancing inclusive cooperation and shared prosperity with its regional partners.
Ever since Donald Trump took office, China and the United States have been locked in a trade conflict. But following the summit between the U.S. leader and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, on Oct. 30, tensions between the world's two largest economies should ease — at least for the time being.
Judging by the two presidents' statements, significant progress in resolving trade disputes has been made, although not all issues have been settled. As a result of their meeting, the intensity of the ongoing trade conflict is likely to decrease in the coming weeks and months, given that Trump has agreed to reduce tariffs as well as other restrictions, in exchange for China suspending restrictions on rare earth exports and resuming purchases of American soybeans. Put simply, one of the main achievements of the Xi-Trump summit was a trade truce that includes tariff cuts. But what comes next?
"China and the United States can jointly shoulder our responsibility as major countries, and work together to accomplish more great and concrete things for the good of our two countries and the whole world," Xi said in the meeting, emphasizing that the two sides should "think big and recognize the long-term benefit of cooperation, and must not fall into a vicious cycle of mutual retaliation."
It is no secret that China-U.S. economic and trade relations have experienced ups and downs recently. Beijing, fully aware that the American and Chinese economies are heavily interconnected and mutually dependent, aims for a cautious de-escalation of trade tensions. Meanwhile, China will also likely seek to strengthen economic ties with other actors, especially those within the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) framework.
The day after his meeting with Trump, Xi attended the APEC summit in Gyeongju, South Korea. He met not only with the president of the host country, Lee Jae-myung, but also with leaders of other APEC members.
Xi's participation in the APEC summit was an ideal opportunity to meet with other leaders from the Asia-Pacific region. China is by far the largest trading partner for many APEC members, while Beijing repeatedly offers more opportunities for the group, both in investment and economic modernization.
During the summit, Xi put forward five proposals urging APEC members to safeguard the multilateral trading system, build an open economic environment, keep industrial and supply chains stable and smooth, advance the digital and green transformation of trade, and promote universally beneficial and inclusive development across the Asia-Pacific. These points align with his 2018 statement that "openness and cooperation are a major driving force behind dynamic international economic and trade activities," suggesting that Beijing continues to position itself as a champion of globalization and open regional cooperation.
From the Chinese perspective, such an approach, when it comes to APEC — whose members collectively account for more than 60% of the world's total gross domestic product (GDP) — makes perfect sense, especially given that the organization is widely seen as the most important economic cooperation mechanism in the Asia-Pacific region.
However, for Beijing, deepening ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) seems to be equally important. The 11-member group is China's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade totaling $771 billion last year, according to ASEAN statistics. Moreover, both China and ASEAN are part of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) — the world's largest free trade deal — which covers nearly a third of the global population and about 30% of global GDP.
It is, therefore, no surprise that strengthening engagement with ASEAN is one of Beijing's top priorities.
"We should further consolidate strategic mutual trust," Chinese Premier Li Qiang said at the 28th China-ASEAN Summit on Oct. 28, urging China to accelerate trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and deepen industrial integration.
As a result of the summit in Kuala Lumpur, China and ASEAN signed an upgraded free trade agreement, which leaders hailed as a deal encompassing the digital and green economies as well as other emerging industries. Coincidentally or not, Trump was also in Kuala Lumpur attending the 47th ASEAN Summit, indicating U.S. recognition that the 21st century's economic center lies in Asia.
However, despite being Asia's largest economy, China seeks cooperation rather than confrontation with the U.S. As Xi stressed, Beijing and Washington should "think big and recognize the long-term benefit of cooperation, and must not fall into a vicious cycle of mutual retaliation." Trump, on the other hand, appears to aim to force Beijing not only to make economic concessions to Washington but also to change its foreign policy.
On his way to Asia, Trump told reporters that he would like China to "help Washington in its dealings with Russia." Does that mean he expects China to halt energy cooperation with Moscow and effectively join the sanctions the U.S. has imposed on Russia, even though Beijing repeatedly stressed that it opposes unilateral sanctions?
Trump has also openly stated that he expects China and the U.S. to "work together on ending the conflict between Russia and Ukraine." Does that mean that he plans to accept Beijing's 12-point peace proposal, announced back in 2023, or is he flirting with Beijing to put pressure on Moscow?
One thing is certain: China shows no indication of changing its foreign policy, which it frames around the principles of mutual respect, fairness and cooperation. Instead, as the world becomes increasingly turbulent, Beijing appears focused on navigating global challenges pragmatically, safeguarding its core interests and seeking opportunities for cooperation wherever possible.
Despite their differences, a sound, stable and sustainable China-U.S. relationship serves the long-term interests of both nations and meets the common expectations of the international community. As President Xi stated during his talks with Trump in Busan, China and the United States are fully able to help each other succeed and prosper together, and they should be partners and friends.
Nikola Mikovic is a Serbia-based freelance journalist and political analyst.
