Since the leaders of China and the United States talked on the telephone last month, exchanges between the two sides at the working level have apparently intensified, which is a good development.

In the latest effort of the two sides to implement the leaders' consensus of keeping Sino-US ties developing on a healthy track, Vice-Premier Liu He talked with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday via video link, at the request of the US side.

Their "candid" and "constructive" exchanges on the macroeconomic situation and bilateral and multilateral cooperation will be conducive to strengthening the macro policy communication and coordination of the two countries, which, as they agreed, is vital as the global economic recovery is at a critical juncture.

However, the biggest obstacles that the two sides urgently need to overcome, as Vice-Premier Liu stressed in the dialogue, is the additional tariffs the US has levied on Chinese exports, and the restrictions it has imposed on Chinese companies.

The National Counterintelligence and Security Center of the US demarcates computing, biotechnology, artificial intelligence and manufacturing as forbidden zones for cooperation and trade with China.

That US Trade Representative Katherine Tai proposed the re-coupling of the US economy in the areas where it has been decoupled from China earlier this month, along with the repeated appeals of the US business community to normalize economic and trade cooperation with China, speaks volumes of how much the US has hurt its own economy with its actions.

And it is absurd for the Joe Biden administration to stick to its predecessor's anti-China policies, when the US needs China as a partner on issues such as Afghanistan and addressing climate change along with other common challenges that it regards as essential to restoring its leadership credentials.

The shortage of semiconductors, soaring energy and staple commodity prices are just some of the windfalls originating from the US' unilateralist actions targeting China that have rattled the global supply chains and hindered the world's economic recovery.

But despite the harmful consequences of its actions, the US has never ceased closing ranks with its allies against China, and sowing the seeds of a new Cold War around the world, exposing how ingrained the zero-sum mentality is in the minds of US strategists, and how eager they are to infect the rest of the world with their toxic doctrine.

The question is for how long will the Biden administration stick to the multi-lose strategies targeting China that divides the world and leaves no party unscathed.