Navigating challenges in Sino-US trade ties

Head-of-state diplomacy has provided crucial guidance for the development of Sino-US relations. It was the telephone talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart on June 5 that enabled the two countries to keep their trade relations on the right track through their talks in London along with other efforts.

China has been faithfully implementing its part of the outcomes from the framework reached during the London talks. This has laid a foundation for their talks in Stockholm from Sunday to Wednesday.

Nonetheless, optimism should be tempered. After making initial progress in their negotiations in Geneva and London, the talks in the Swedish capital are likely to address some tough nuts. Not to mention the US has threatened to impose so-called "secondary sanctions" on economies trading with Russia citing the Ukraine crisis. The US also claims to have reached deals with some economies that reportedly contain China-targeted clauses, in an apparent bid to provide itself with more leverages in future trade talks with China.

These issues might not be avoidable in the Stockholm talks, but they must not be impassable barriers if the two sides are to move forward toward the common goal of straightening out their economic and trade relations.

To create the necessary conditions to ensure the forthcoming talks remain solution-oriented, the two negotiating teams should implement the common understanding the two leaders have reached, which is necessary to guarantee their discussions focus on what really matters in their economic and trade relations.

As President Xi pointed out in his talks with US President Donald Trump last month, for the smooth sailing of China-US relations it is particularly important that the two sides steer clear of disturbances and disruptions.

Since the two countries have made some progress in their previous talks, they should continue to make good use of the economic and trade consultation mechanism already in place, and seek win-win results in the spirit of equality and respect for each other's concerns, as agreed by the two leaders.

China has always focused on doing its own things well in its quest for high-quality development, high-standard opening-up and innovation-driven growth. That also provides new opportunities for foreign companies and investors, including those from the US. A recent report by the US-China Business Council suggests that 82 percent of US companies in China reported making a profit last year, underscoring the common interests and potential for cooperation that exist between the two countries.

That the country's total goods imports and exports in yuan-denominated terms rose to 21.79 trillion yuan ($3.05 trillion) in the first half of 2025, up 2.9 percent year-on-year despite the overall world trade being lackluster clearly shows that China is enhancing its capability to resist the headwinds of protectionism and unilateralism.

So in the process of recalibrating bilateral trade relations, the US side should rationally view China's development, and recognize the cooperative nature of bilateral relations. It should meet China halfway in that direction in the negotiations.

To that end, more efforts should be made to guard against the potential disruptions that may pop up from time to time to prevent them from derailing the mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.

China is sincere and principled about its cooperation with the US, and it always honors and delivers what has been promised.

For the overall benefit of Sino-US ties, both sides should make good on the agreements reached in Geneva and London, and carry on the practical momentum by enhancing communication in such fields as foreign affairs, economy and trade, and law enforcement to consolidate the consensus, clear up misunderstandings, and strengthen collaboration.