China and the U.S.: Dream Team?

More passenger flights. Intergovernmental discussions on artificial intelligence. Resumption of high-level military communication. These are among the initiatives to strengthen bilateral exchanges agreed upon by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his American counterpart Joe Biden during their recent meeting in San Francisco.

President Xi traveled to the U.S. from November 14 to 17 for this summit as well as the 30th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting. The visit attracted much attention against the backdrop of rising regional conflicts and sluggish economic growth.

During the summit, the leaders of the world’s two largest economies charted the course for the sustainable development of China-United States relations, building on the consensus reached when they met in

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Bali, Indonesia, a year ago.

China is committed to a stable and healthy relationship with the U.S. At the same time, there is no denying that they have their differences and disagreements. However, these should not be a barrier that alienates the two global players; instead, they should always team up to find solutions through consultations as partners with mutual respect.

Both countries need to focus on their common interests across a wide range of areas such as trade, agriculture and climate change management. Mutually beneficial cooperation can go a long way toward bridging differences. There is also an urgent need for the two to set a good example on the international stage and assume their responsibilities as major countries.

With growing instability and uncertainty in the global economy, the APEC forum serves as a key platform for economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. This region is the world’s most economically prosperous one and has remained on track to contribute about two thirds of global growth in 2023, according to a report by the International Monetary Fund. Solidarity and cooperation are what brought the AsiaPacific economies together in the first place. With this in mind, they should continue collaborating to generate new growth for the region and beyond.

China and the U.S. are two giants in the Asia-Pacific region. While the latter has technological and financial prowess, China has huge market potential. In this sense, it is imperative that the two giants work together to transcend their differences and bring badly needed development to the world.