{"id":10585,"date":"2022-07-06T07:30:43","date_gmt":"2022-07-06T07:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/?p=10585"},"modified":"2022-07-04T09:27:22","modified_gmt":"2022-07-04T09:27:22","slug":"us-china-relationship-improves-as-economy-slows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/us-china-relationship-improves-as-economy-slows\/","title":{"rendered":"Signs of US-China detente as economy slows down"},"content":{"rendered":"

The US and China appear to have realised the constraints placed upon them by their interdependence and are seeking to ease relations as a result, with high-level government-to-government engagement between the pair ramping up significantly over the past year. However, companies from the US and beyond will need to continue to tread carefully in and around China, writes Joe Cash<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

In American political circles, China is seen as both a disease and a cure. As President Biden leads the Democrats to the polls for the mid-term elections in November, detente with China could stave off inflation, which analysts expect to be the number one issue among voters. However, a China-dominated world would also be \u201cdarker and harsher for American families, and it\u2019s one [the US] needs to stand against,\u201d according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.\u00a0 <\/span>Meanwhile, among Democrats and Republicans alike, polling suggests that voters believe that limiting China\u2019s power and influence is a top priority and that they feel \u2018cold\u2019 towards China, despite also considering climate change to be the number one national security threat and only solvable through compromising with China.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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It is an equally complex picture on the other side of the Pacific. Despite the increasing frequency of rhetoric coming out of Beijing signalling that China feels comfortable pitting itself against the US in Asia-Pacific affairs (eg, the Taiwan Strait does not constitute international waters) Beijing is discovering that it is going to need to work with Washington if it is to make the region more agreeable to China\u2019s rise. Very tellingly, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi recently failed to persuade 10 countries in the Pacific to sign a regional agreement on trade and security, demonstrating that Beijing\u2019s neighbours are not about to turn their backs on the US and accept China\u2019s worldview. What is more, as in the US, there is also the issue that domestic political concerns demand boosting trade and investment between the pair \u2013 the zero Covid<\/a> strategy isn\u2019t going to pay for itself.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, both countries\u2019 respective business communities have made it clear that they would value relations easing to a more predictable and manageable level. US companies in the country\u2019s technology sector, in particular, have lost billions of dollars\u2019 worth of business due to the Trump administration\u2019s decision to put Chinese technology companies with ties to the military on a \u2018black list.\u2019 Meanwhile, Chinese firms are continuing to look overseas for investment opportunities that are more stable than those on offer at home, and see the US as a key growth market, assuming the geo-political climate<\/a> improves.<\/span><\/p>\n