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Prof. Zhao Suisheng: American Factors in China’s Process of Going Global
2019-04-30

 

On March 25th, 2019, the School of International Relations successfully held a seminar themed "American Factors in China’s Process of Going Global".  On behalf of the School, Prof. Dai Changzheng, Prof. Wang Bo, Prof. Li Zhiyong, Prof. Zhang Han, Li Hangmin, Lu Yu and other faculty members and students attended the forum.

 

Professor Zhao reviewed the great changes in the Sino-US relations since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1979, while adding his personal experience as a witness of the Sino-US relations development. Professor Zhao argued that the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States is almost synchronous with China's opening up to the outside world. Under the joint efforts and maintenance of the two governments and peoples, the Sino-US relations have undergone earth-shaking changes in the past forty years, despite the two countries having their own characteristics and differences. Prof. Zhao added that the economic, cultural, and non-governmental exchanges between the two countries have never been so close, mentioning the economic interdependence having reached an intractable degree. With the rapid progress of the Chinese economy over the past four decades, China has become the world’s second largest economy, and the distance from the United States has been drawing closer. Currently, the United States feels pressured by China’s remarkable economic achievements.

Marked by a sense of crisis, the United States has begun to reflect more and more on its own economic development, global strategy, domestic politics and economic development. Concerns about uncertainty have been on the rise in the United States. On the other hand, China’s economy rendered the country as a global power. Although some decision-makers in the United States want to decouple China-US relations, the deep interdependence between China and the United States has firmly tied the prosperity and well-being of the two countries. It is very difficult for China and the United States to decouple, Prof. Zhao argued. At the same time, as China's competitiveness in the economy and other fields is intensifying, competition between China and the United States in the economic and other fields is inevitable. In the future, Sino-US relations are expected to grow into a peaceful competition.  This requires the two sides to deepen their understanding, enhance trust, find new areas of cooperation and win-win, while promote the development of Sino-US relations in the direction of benign interaction.


At the end of the lecture, students addressed numerous questions on the challenges faced in Sino-US relations. The forum has been hosted by Prof. Wang Bo, Associate Dean of the School of International Relations. Dean Dai Changzheng participated in the forum and held a working meeting with Professor Zhao in the aftermath.

 

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