As the global economy is still in the rebalancing period, the US is also experiencing an economic slowdown and additional negative impact by other economies certainly cannot be ignored. Supporting the Abe government's constitutional amendment in Japan, creating tension in the South China Sea and accusing countries of cyber attacks will put more pressure on the US economy. The US people could be misled and the image of Chinese products in the US could be affected if these issues cannot be adequately controlled during the 2016 US presidential election. Some US politicians may make these topics into big deals but negative political ties will not be conducive to the sustainable development of bilateral trade.

In fact, the two countries have broad and close interdependencies in goods, technology, finance and culture. Having a favorable business environment certainly can benefit both sides. China and the US can play an important role to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and expand the sales of information technology products through collaboration, as well as promoting environmental projects and products.

To achieve sustainable development of bilateral trade, and meet consumer demand, China and the US should strengthen mutual trust in a bid to avoid welfare losses due to nationalism and trade protectionism. Under such circumstances, impartially in guiding public opinion and preventing inefficient mutual constraints between legislative and administrative departments can help the market play a decisive role in resource allocation for enterprises of both countries.

The author is a senior researcher fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.