Joint efforts called for in managing Sino-US disputes

China is willing to make joint efforts with the US incumbent and his new administration to manage disputes, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Friday, amid uncertainties regarding bilateral ties brought by the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump later this month.

Analysts said that after the Trump administration takes office on Jan 20, friction is likely between the world’s two biggest economies in areas such as trade, and that this should be avoided because confrontation will harm both.

The Sino-US relationship can not only benefit both nations but also serve global peace and prosperity, spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular news conference in Beijing. The two countries must uphold the principles of non-conflict, non-confrontation,mutual trust and cooperation to achieve win-win results, he said.

Geng was speaking in response to an exit memo released on Thursday by US Secretary of State John Kerry, in which he said the US-China relationship is “the most consequential of our bilateral relationships in the world today”.

“We have built on the positive and productive relationship that President Barack Obama established with President Xi Jinping to expand cooperation on a range of global challenges such as clean energy and health, including paradigmshifting cooperation in reducing the threat of climate change,” he said.

Though disagreements remain in areas including cybersecurity and maritime disputes, Kerry said, China and the US have worked together to increase stability in countries like Afghanistan, confront global health epidemics, and address development challenges.

On Thursday, Kerry made a telephone call to Foreign Minister Wang Yi and said that both the Democratic and Republican parties in the US remain committed to the one-China policy. That policy was challenged by Trump last month after he accepted a congratulatory call from Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen.

Ruan Zongze, vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies, said trade conflict is highly likely to break out between China and the US this year, given Trump’s provocative remarks on trade concerning China. Trump has pledged to impose a 45 percent tariff on Chinese exports to the US.

However, Ruan said, it is impossible for China and the US to engage in all-out conflicts and confrontations because, as the world’ s top two economies, “neither could afford the consequences”.

Guo Xiangang, vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies, said Beijing could take countermeasures in trade because China is one of the largest export markets of the US.

Trump will also need China’s cooperation in global security area, he said.