GT
At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, US President Donald Trump will pay a state visit to China from Wednesday to Friday. This marks the first face-to-face meeting between the two heads of state this year and their first meeting in Beijing in nine years, carrying special and significant meaning. The international community is paying close attention and has high expectations that this meeting will bring stability to a turbulent world and demonstrate the responsibility and strength of major powers in promoting peaceful development.
To properly navigate China-US relations, we must adopt a broader perspective and a longer-term vision. Looking back over the past half-century, one of the most significant events in international relations is the restoration and development of China-US relations, which has benefited both countries and the world. Looking ahead, whether China and the US can find the right way to coexist will profoundly influence the future and destiny of humanity. Not long ago, an article published by The New York Times mentioned a “China that has moved on,” noting that “a China that is now just as likely… to show the way forward.”
In fact, amid profound changes unseen in a century, both China and the US – as well as the world as a whole – have undergone profound transformations. Yet China’s policy toward the US has consistently maintained a high degree of continuity and stability, steadfastly upholding mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation. Viewed from a broader perspective on history, the importance of China-US cooperation in the global landscape is growing ever greater. Now more than ever, the international community needs China and the US to build a strategic, constructive and stable bilateral relationship. Promoting the healthy, stable, and sustainable development of bilateral relations is a choice that serves the interests of both countries and the world, and is an approach that demonstrates responsibility toward history, the people, and the world.
Heads-of-state diplomacy has always served as the “compass” and “rudder” for China-US relations, playing an irreplaceable strategic role in guiding the development of bilateral ties. In the face of winds and waves, the leaders of the two countries, as helmsmen, must steer in the right direction and maintain control of the overall situation to keep the great ship of China-US relations on a steady course. Over the past year or so, President Xi has had multiple phone calls with President Trump and held a meeting in Busan, which helped calibrate the trajectory of the relationship at a critical moment, injected momentum, and conveyed positive signals to the world.
Interactions between the heads of state are not only strategic guidance for stabilizing bilateral relations, but also candid dialogues to uphold bottom-line principles. President Xi has repeatedly outlined China’s principled position on the Taiwan question with President Trump. The Taiwan question is at the very core of China’s core interests, the bedrock of the political foundation of China-US relations, the first red line that must not be crossed, and the biggest risk in bilateral ties. China’s repeated emphases on this red line aims to make the US clearly understand China’s principles and bottom line, avoid misunderstandings and misjudgments, and prevent conflicts and confrontation. The US should uphold the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, honor the commitments made by successive US administrations on the Taiwan question, and take concrete actions to safeguard the overall interests of China-US relations and promote global peace and stability.
As the world’s two largest economies, China and the US account for more than one-third of the global GDP and about one-fifth of the world’s merchandise trade. Their interaction has a significant impact on both their own economies and the global economy. Think tank data show that fluctuations in China-US trade in 2025 directly slowed global trade growth by approximately 10 percent. Guided by the important consensus reached between the two heads of state, both sides’ teams have held six rounds of consultations and are about to hold a new round of consultations, reaching a series of outcomes, injecting more stability and certainty into the economic and trade relations between the two countries and the world economy.
At present, the global economic recovery remains sluggish. A stable and healthy China-US economic and trade relationship is an important engine for boosting market confidence and promoting the stabilization and recovery of the world economy. Both sides should take a broader and longer-term view, allowing economic and trade ties to continue serving as the ballast and propeller of China-US relations, constantly opening up new space for cooperation and creating more favorable conditions for the common prosperity and development of both countries and the world.
Addressing the challenges facing humanity cannot be achieved without China and the US, as two major powers, working in coordination and meeting in half way. At present, global challenges are emerging one after another: climate change risks are intensifying, AI security concerns are becoming more prominent, and regional conflicts continue to drag on. The world is facing increasingly acute security and governance deficits. Great-power competition should not define the era; only solidarity and cooperation can help overcome difficulties together. This year is a crucial one for the development of both China and the US. China is embarking on its 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30), while the US marks the 250th anniversary of its independence. The two countries will also respectively host the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and the G20 Leaders’ Summit, bearing important responsibilities for promoting regional development and improving global economic governance. China and the US joining hands in cooperation is about fulfilling their due international responsibilities and advancing the common well-being of all humanity.
“We Homo sapiens must govern, innovate, collaborate and coexist at a planetary scale to thrive. Our fates are now fused,” wrote Thomas Friedman, a columnist for The New York Times.
The more turbulent the times, the more the world looks for forces of stability. By leveraging their respective strengths and working together, China and the US can accomplish more major, practical and positive things for both countries and the world, providing more “1+1 > 2” solutions to global challenges and shared human development. It is hoped that the upcoming meeting between the Chinese and US leaders will serve as an opportunity for the two countries to find the right way to get along with each other, achieve mutual success and common prosperity, and deliver benefits to the world.
This was compiled and translated by the Global Times based on an article to be published by the People’s Daily on May 12, 2026. Zhong Sheng is the People’s Daily international news commentary column.
