Analysis of China-U.S. Economic and Trade Relations--CCIEE held the 141st “Monthly Economic Talk”

On June 25, China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE) held the 141st "Monthly Economic Talk" online under the theme of "China-U.S. Economic and Trade Relations". The meeting was presided over by Jiang Zengwei, Vice Chairman of CCIEE, former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce and former Chairman of CCPIT. Zhu Guangyao, Vice Chairman of CCIEE and former Vice Minister of Finance, Wei Jianguo, Senior Advisor of CCIEE and former Vice Minister of Commerce, Chen Wenling, Chief Economist of CCIEE, and Zha Daojiong, Professor of School of International Relations of Peking University, delivered speeches respectively.

Wei pointed out that the problems appear in current U.S. economy structure such as the relocation of enterprises and the increasing hollowing out of the manufacturing industry has seriously affected its supply chain and industrial chain; in addition, the U.S. financial deflation has led to persistent domestic inflation, rising debt, soaring fiscal deficit and increasing financial risks. In the next five years, the U.S. economic and trade dependence on China will continue to grow. Therefore, the United States should promptly abandon hegemonism and unilateralism, and work together with China to build a stable and healthy China-U.S. relationship.

Zhu Guangyao viewed that at present, China-US relations are in the most difficult period since the establishment of diplomatic relations. China-U.S. economic and trade relations are the ballast of the bilateral relations. Next, China and the U.S. should strengthen dialogue and cooperation led strategically by the two heads of state, resume the China-U.S. Strategic Economic Dialogue, restart negotiations on bilateral investment agreements, and strengthen people-to-people exchanges such as those among students. Meanwhile, China and the United States should continue to improve the investment environment respectively and expand the room for investment cooperation, thus resulting in more stable economic and trade cooperation.

Chen Wenling held the view that the Biden administration, while continuing the Trump administration's China policy, has strengthened its strategic adjustments, treating China as its No. 1 strategic competitor and uniting with Western allies to restrict China's development. In this context, China and the U.S. should strengthen cooperation in addressing global climate change, infrastructure construction and energy, and complement each other's strengths and weaknesses in the industrial chain and supply chain for mutual benefit and win-win situation, so as to ease the tension between two countries.

Zha Daojiong believed that technological competition between China and the U.S. is a dynamic one, and benign dynamic competition is the source of vitality. Although there are disputes between China and the United States, there are still equal trade mechanisms, recognized international regulations and mutually adaptable rules between the two sides. China and the U.S. should strengthen cooperation in technical standards and market access, enhance investment cooperation between enterprises from the two countries, and promote the construction of mutually beneficial relations.

After the speeches, the experts and the media had an interactive exchange. Some researchers of CCIEE and its members, research institutions, enterprises and news media participated in the conference virtually.