Dialogue shows deepening economic and trade cooperation remains rewarding choice: China Daily editorial

Senior Chinese officials sat down with United States business leaders and multinational executives in Beijing on the weekend for a series of meetings focused on deepening mutually beneficial pragmatic cooperation.

Speaking to a delegation from the US-China Business Council on Sunday, Vice-Premier He Lifeng said that US enterprises are welcome to seize the development opportunities in China and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with the country. He expressed the hope that US companies would make good use of the potential of the Chinese market and inject more stability and positive energy into China-US economic and trade relations.

In this context, Vice-Premier He's remarks about stability and predictability take on a practical meaning. For companies, long-term investment decisions depend on expectations. The assurance that China will continue to open up sectors, improve the business environment and treat foreign companies on an equal footing helps shape those expectations.

The numbers are instructive. Projections from the US-China Business Council suggest US exports to China could exceed $520 billion by 2030. Current two-way trade and investment already support more than 2.6 million US jobs and contribute over $200 billion annually to the US GDP. Meanwhile, the US maintains a services trade surplus with China of more than $30 billion a year, reflecting its strength in sectors such as finance, education and professional services.

Research by major US think tanks shows that trade with China has contributed positively to income growth in the US, while the US side's tariffs introduced in recent years have imposed additional costs on the US economy. Estimates indicate that more than 90 percent of tariff-related costs have been borne by US importers and consumers.

Against that backdrop, the discussions in Beijing were notably sector-specific. Commerce Minister Wang Wentao met executives from major pharmaceutical groups, including major US companies in the field, in Beijing on Saturday. He highlighted the role foreign corporations have played in developing China's healthcare market and pointed to further openings linked to the country's Healthy China Initiative.

Biopharmaceuticals have been designated a key pillar industry in the next phase of development. For multinational companies, this comes with clearer signals regarding intellectual property rights protection, regulatory processes and research collaboration.

The commercial case is straightforward. China's healthcare market is expanding rapidly, driven by demographics and rising incomes. Even incremental gains in market share can translate into substantial revenue growth. For US companies, that can mean additional investment in research, production and skilled employment elsewhere in their global operations.

Similar dynamics are at work in other sectors. The transition to lower-carbon growth is creating demand for carbon capture and hydrogen technologies, along with industrial efficiency — areas where US companies hold technical advantages. Industry surveys indicate that close to 70 percent of US energy and manufacturing companies see China's green transition as a leading source of growth in Asia over the coming years.

As Wang said in his meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook on Friday, China is committed to building an open world economy, and the country is providing stability and certainty for a turbulent world with its economic development.

Yet none of these factors removes the tensions between the two economies. The US administration's tariff weaponization, technology restrictions, trade protectionism and unilateral maneuvers continue. But these coexist with sustained commercial interdependence. Supply chains, investment flows and market access continue to link the two economies in ways that are difficult to replicate elsewhere.

For US businesses, participation in the Chinese market does not preclude diversification elsewhere, but absence carries its own costs. The risk for US businesses is the possibility of missing a large and evolving market at a time when global growth is uneven. For those able to tap the opportunities, the rewards are potentially substantial.

In that sense, the meetings in Beijing were less about grand statements than about reinforcing a basic proposition: despite tensions, the economic relationship between the world's two largest economies still offers opportunities for both sides.

The interest of US businesses in China's new five-year plan, their continued pursuit of opportunities in the Chinese market, and their confidence in China's economic potential should prompt certain circles in Washington to rethink the rationality of the US' transactional trade policies toward China. US policymakers should adopt a more pragmatic approach to managing the most important bilateral economic ties in the world.