By Kai Li, Department of Finance, School of Economics, Peking University

As I see it, the bilateral economic interaction is the foundation for understanding the US-China relationship. And due to my major in Economics, I’d like to restrict my opinions on the US-China’s economic relationship, starting from trade issues.

Before President Nixon visited China and opened a new age for the US-China relationship in 1972, there’s almost no trade between the two nations, just like their isolated diplomatic contact. In 1978 when China just began its Reform and Opening Up policy, the trade volume between the US and China has grown to $ 1 billion. While in 2007, the trade volume was over $300 billion and the two countries have become most important trade partners. I once heard a description of the US-China trade relationship from a professor claiming that China and the US are “dancing” together, which implies that both countries have wide interests in each other and both countries have to “hold” each other so that they won’t “fall”.