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Pragmatic cooperation

(China Daily)
Updated: 2011-01-21 08:10

The meeting between President Hu Jintao and his US counterpart Barack Obama has been the most attention-grabbing world event this week. Through their in-depth talks on issues of mutual interest, they have established a solid foundation on which the bilateral partnership can build in the coming decade.

Bearing in mind that the rest of the world has been paying close attention to every word and gesture they make - given the importance of the two countries to the global economic and political landscape - developing a deeper and comprehensive awareness of the trajectory of bilateral ties in the years to come is not merely in the interests of China and the United States but also of far-reaching global significance.

The two leaders have pledged continuous contributions to world peace and prosperity through intensified communication and enhanced consultations at international platforms and the two nations will jointly project their influence on international efforts to address pressing regional and global challenges, such as climate change, energy security, the Iranian nuclear issue and tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

In a joint statement released on Wednesday, Beijing and Washington agreed to establish a cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and mutual benefit. Such a partnership is a guarantee of world peace and development.

The statement also highlighted "a comprehensive and mutually beneficial economic partnership", a pragmatic and cooperative relationship that will help consolidate the world economic recovery.

China-US trade ties have undoubtedly been the linchpin of bilateral cooperation in the little more than three decades since the two forged diplomatic ties. As the second largest trade partner of the other, the trade volume between the two nations reached $385.3 billion last year, and there is now an unprecedented high degree of interdependency in trade.

Both sides have a strong desire to broaden the scope and deepen the level of their trade cooperation based on the understanding that mutual efforts in this regard will result in reciprocal short-term benefits and cater to long-term interests.

During Hu's visit, Washington secured $45 billion in US export deals with Beijing.

"From machinery to software, from aviation to agriculture, these deals will support some 235,000 American jobs," Obama said during a joint press conference with Hu.

Apart from the obvious benefits that enhanced economic cooperation will bring the two countries, the thriving China-US trade will shore up confidence in the global economic recovery. And by playing the trade card, the world's largest developed country and the largest developing nation demonstrate that they are shouldering their international responsibilities in economic as well as other fields.

In the long run, successful trade cooperation will help build more mutual trust and put bilateral ties on a steady and sustainable track that will give more impetus to Sino-US cooperation in other fields, such as security and global governance.

China Daily

(China Daily 01/21/2011 page9)