By Zhong Sheng, People’s Daily
On November 7, Chinese President Xi Jinping extended congratulations to Donald Trump on his election as president of the United States.
Xi noted that a stable, sound and sustainable China-U.S. relationship serves the two countries’ shared interests and meets the aspiration of the international community.
He expressed the hope that the two sides will uphold the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, strengthen dialogue and communication, properly manage differences, and expand mutually beneficial cooperation. He urged the countries to find the right way to get along in the new era, so as to benefit both countries and the wider world.
Xi’s congratulatory message reflects China’s stable and consistent policy toward the U.S. As one of the world’s most important bilateral relations, China-U.S. ties should be considered and planned with a broad vision, so as to benefit the people of both countries and demonstrate the responsibility for human progress.
No matter how the international landscape evolves, China always manages the bilateral relations with a sense of responsibility for history, for the people and for the world based on the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation.
History has already proved that the China-U.S. relationship, though experiencing ups and downs, has always moved forward through twists and turns. Since the “ice-breaking” of bilateral relations in 1971, China and the U.S. have worked hand in hand to bring tangible benefits to both countries and the world.
Mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation are the lessons learned from 50 years of China-U.S. relations and the conflicts between major countries in history, which should be the direction of joint efforts between the two countries.
Just as mutual respect is a basic code of behavior for individuals, it is fundamental for China-U.S. relations. Peaceful coexistence is a basic norm for international relations, and is even more of a baseline that China and the U.S. should hold on to as two major countries. Win-win cooperation is the trend of the times, and it is also an inherent property of China-U.S. relations.
Win-win cooperation between China and the U.S. is in line with the fundamental interests of both countries and their peoples, as well as with the trend of the times. China’s rapid and constant development has been facilitated by its open cooperation with countries around the world, providing sustained growth momentum and a vast market space for countries including the U.S.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, bilateral trade between China and the U.S. has seen an over 200-fold expansion, accounting for approximately one-fifth of global trade. Today, China is the third-largest market for exports of U.S. goods, while the U.S. is China’s third-largest trading partner. More than 70,000 U.S. companies have invested and operated in China, with exports to China alone supporting 930,000 American jobs.
Last year, 1,920 new American companies were established in China, and 80 percent of American companies plan to reinvest profits generated in China this year. These facts have proved that China-U.S. cooperation has brought tangible benefits to the people of both countries, and the two countries’ respective success is an opportunity for each other.
China and the U.S. jointly advancing mutually beneficial cooperation can provide opportunities for both sides to better address their respective challenges and achieve development.
The two countries have broad common interests in a wide range of areas, including traditional areas such as the economy, trade and agriculture, as well as emerging areas such as climate change and artificial intelligence (AI).
Under the current circumstances, the common interests of the two countries have not decreased, but increased. China is pursuing high-quality development, and the U.S. is revitalizing its economy. There is plenty of room for bilateral cooperation, and the two countries should help rather than hinder each other’s development.
Both China and the U.S. should make the cooperation list longer and the pie of cooperation bigger, helping each other succeed and achieving win-win outcomes. They should focus on the larger picture, and nurture a sound atmosphere and stable relations for cooperation.
As the international situation continues to be turbulent and fast-changing, and humanity faces numerous global challenges, the world increasingly needs a stable China-U.S. relationship.
China and the U.S. should assume the vision, shoulder the responsibility, and play the role that come along with their status as major countries. As permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and the world’s top two economies, China and the U.S. should be a source of stability for world peace and a propeller for common development.
Over the past year, China-U.S. diplomatic, financial, law enforcement, climate change teams, and both militaries have maintained communication, sending positive signals to the world.
Currently, promoting world economic recovery and settling international and regional issues require China and the U.S. to coordinate and cooperate with each other.
Both sides should step up coordination and cooperation on international and regional issues, providing more public goods to the world and contributing to addressing the ever-emerging global challenges.
China and the U.S. stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. Oppressing and containing China’s development cannot solve the problems that the U.S. is facing. The two countries need to strengthen dialogue in a mutually respectful way, manage differences prudently, advance cooperation in the spirit of mutual benefit, and step up coordination on international affairs in a responsible way.
China’s foreign policy is open and transparent and its strategic intentions are aboveboard, both of which have been highly consistent and stable. China will keep viewing and handling China-U.S. relations based on the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.
At the same time, China has interests that must be safeguarded, principles that must be upheld, and red lines that must not be crossed. Only by meeting each other halfway can the two countries with different civilizations, systems, and paths find a right way to coexist in peace and achieve common development on this planet, so as to make their due contributions to building a community with a shared future for mankind.
The world is big enough for the two countries to develop themselves and prosper together. To strive for a more stable, better and forward-going China-U.S. relationship is the right choice responsible for history, for the people and for the world.
(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People’s Daily to express its views on foreign policy and international affairs.)
