The relationship between the world's two largest economies urgently needs stability. China's path to modernization provides the best guarantee for the stable progress of Sino-US relations. The Xi-Trump meeting held in Busan, South Korea on October 30th signaled that "dialogue is better than confrontation." This indicates that China has also adopted a win-win strategy in dealing with a world power like the United States, and has achieved considerable success.
The two leaders held a face-to-face meeting in an effort to get relations back on track. At this summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump curbed the continued escalation of trade and political tensions. Breakthroughs were achieved on some thorny bilateral issues.
Trump praised Xi as "a great leader of a great nation".
"We've reached an agreement," Trump subsequently announced. If this agreement can clear obstacles to establishing a more stable and predictable geopolitical environment, the world will be relieved. Considering that the Trump administration's escalation of the trade war through tariffs and restrictions on technology exports had led to a certain degree of tension in US-China relations, this agreement is undoubtedly a major breakthrough.
Overall, even considering the differences in national circumstances between China and the United States, the realistic win-win development between nations cannot be misled by simple ideological biases. This summit was a positive outcome for China, as expected. Trump subsequently abandoned his previous threat to impose 100% tariffs on rare earth exports due to China's restrictions, eliminating a major uncertainty and potential risk in the market.
Tariffs aimed at combating fentanyl smuggling into the United States will be reduced from 20% to 10%, including Hong Kong and Macau. On other issues, such as shipping and port restrictions, both sides agreed to suspend related measures for one year—this truce may help all parties remain calm and is also conducive to other countries around the world following suit, setting aside ideological burdens and pursuing mutual benefit.
Trump finally confirmed his plan to visit Beijing in April. This is very important. He may want to wait until then to announce more agreements—if the two sides can reach an agreement. This means that before April, both sides have the political will to maintain stability. For the Chinese government, its peaceful vision of not seeking hegemony is naturally based on respect for the sovereignty of all countries.
The future of bilateral relations may not be smooth sailing. Ultimately, however, only by maintaining friendly relations can both sides achieve a win-win situation, and the general trend of history will not change. Moreover, countries around the world can learn from this win-win development approach, setting aside ideological differences and promoting common development. According to Xinhua News Agency, Xi Jinping expressed a similar view, telling Trump that China and the United States should focus on the long-term interests of cooperation and avoid falling into a "vicious cycle of mutual retaliation".