China-US dialogue can help manage differences, benefit world, analysts say

The high-stakes summit between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump has provided an important framework for managing differences between the world's two largest economies and sent a reassuring message to the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East that the two major countries can promote global stability, analysts say.

The meeting in Washington came as the world faces a range of critical challenges, from escalating tensions in the Middle East and the intensifying impacts of climate change to the uncertainties brought by the rapid development of artificial intelligence.

Peter T. C. Chang, a research associate at the Malaysia-China Friendship Association, said it is "positive news for the global community" that China and the United States can work together.

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The reason, Chang said, is that the China-US relationship is the world's "most consequential bilateral relationship". He added that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations wants to engage both China and the US "constructively and positively".

Mehmood Ul Hassan Khan, president of the Center for Knowledge and Public Policy in Pakistan, also highlighted the global significance of the two countries. China and the US are both permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, together account for more than 40 percent of global GDP in nominal terms, and are home to more than 20 percent of the world's population.

"These figures underscore their strategic weight, systemic relevance and high stake in advancing strategic stability," Khan said.

For Abdulaziz Alshaabani, a researcher at the Al Riyadh Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Saudi Arabia, the summit offered a promising path for China-US relations and can encourage regional actors to turn to diplomacy as the most viable means of resolving crises.

"The fact that China and the US can keep communicating despite deep strategic competition proves that dialogue remains a critical tool for preventing disputes from spiraling," he said.

Global example

Beyond bilateral gains, the summit also offered a powerful global example that disputes can be contained through diplomacy, said Rasha Al Joundy, a senior researcher at the Dubai Public Policy Research Centre in the United Arab Emirates.

The meeting has sent an encouraging signal to Middle Eastern countries to pursue negotiation over confrontation in addressing regional crises, Al Joundy said.

Stable China-US relations can benefit regional trade, investment and security, she said. China and the US share common interests in resolving issues surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, as both have suffered economic losses from disruptions there. Gulf states also have "huge stakes" in seeing the crisis resolved and avoiding a renewed conflict, she added.

Benjarong Suwankiri, deputy managing director of the Stock Exchange of Thailand, said cooperation between the world's two largest economies will benefit both ASEAN and the global economy, particularly amid disruptions caused by climate change and the rapid development of AI.

Shakeel Ahmad Ramay, CEO of the Asian Institute of Eco-Civilization Research and Development in Pakistan, said Trump's warm reception of Xi during the Chinese president's state visit sent a "significant message" to the global community.

The meeting "underscores that the world is no longer unipolar, but is instead rapidly transitioning toward a multipolar global order", Ramay said.

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However, cooperation is a prerequisite for a peaceful transition, he said, adding that China and the United States, as major countries, share a responsibility to lead that transition.

Irfan Shahzad Takalvi, founder of the Eurasian Century Institute, a think tank based in Islamabad, said President Xi had gone the extra mile by extending a hand of friendship and offering cooperation.

"Xi has made it clear that cooperation between China and the US is needed not only for the two countries and their people — the world at large needs this greatly at this defining moment of human history," he said.

Yang Wanli in Bangkok contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at prime@chinadailyapac.com