By Ding Gang

The first round of the China-US Economic and Strategic Dialogue, an extension of the economic talks that began under the administration of President George W. Bush, is set for July 27-28 in Washington D.C.

The strategic track of the dialogue is co-chaired by Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan, as special representative of President Hu Jintao, and State Councilor Dai Bingguo from the Chinese side and, for the American side, by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, special representative of US President Barack Obama, and Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner. The main themes of the two-day strategic talks include Sino-US relations, and issues of international, regional and global importance.

The current talks have been arresting a wide-ranging global attention. An important feature of the China-US relations in recent years is that its impact worldwide is more significant than in the past and that new issues have been continuously included to bring changes to bilateral ties. Obviously, the reality and future of bilateral ties cannot be steered if they are considered and observed merely from the bilateral angel.

In the past two decades, the strategic ties between the US and China have been turned into the relations aimed to spur global stability and development from a kind of ordinary bilateral ties, said a US scholar on China, David Lampton, noting that the multilateral and global effect of Sino-US relations has become all the more outstanding or protruding, and particularly since the outbreak of the global financial crisis in 2008.

In this big perspective, China and the United States have been raising and improving the levels and mechanisms for dialogue and enhancing their cooperation to jointly cope with the crisis. This not only conforms to the interests of both China and the US but helps to promote peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large.

At present, the world economic recovery continues to face grin challenges. It would undoubtedly send forth a positive, "helping-each-other-out" signal for both China and the US, the two most important members of the global trading setup, to strengthen their policy-related dialogue and make bilateral trade ties and structure more balanced.

As far as the Sino-US relations are concerned, what more crucial in the years to come may be how to make the two great powers shape a basic framework for mutual induction, consultation and cooperation.

Discussing its annual report on the world trade prior to the current China-US strategic and economic talks, the World Trade Organization (WTO) predicted that China is expected to overtake Germany as the world's biggest exporter this year. Meanwhile, vigorous Asia economies show that Asia would lead other regions in the recovery of global trade. And changes in global wealth and economic power have also spurred the two great nations to set up new bilateral communication and dialogue mechanisms.

With the emergence of China, India and other emerging countries, a global multilateral setup is currently taking shape, according to the US National Intelligence Council. "The unprecedented global shift in relative strength and economic power from the West to East now under way will continue." Although the US remains the most powerful nation in the world, its right of disposal, however, is not as strong as before.

In the American academic field, the voice of discussing whether China will emerge has dimmed, whereas the voice of how to deal with the nation has been on steady rise. If China is able to phase out the current financial crisis as quickly as possible and be less affected than other major powers, acknowledge an increasing number of American scholars, the country will greatly enhance its comprehensive national strength.

To view Sino-US ties from this angel, the challenges confronting both sides would be in fact in a new balance, and it indicates that both nations are striving to seek a new balance. The goal is naturally still distant but the launching of Sino-US strategic economic dialogue has been unprecedented. It precisely shows both countries are working hard to explore a new path for increasing mutual trust and that such an endeavor will surely help promote the strategic mutual trust and long-term cooperation.

(People's Daily July 28, 2009)