The visit to China by the new US Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, provides hope that the increasingly bitter stalemate in economic relations between the two countries may be amenable to change. The problem is that protectionists in Washington may not be willing to give Mr Paulson the time that he needs.
Mr Paulson was welcomed in Beijing as an old friend, which is an old Chinese tactic. However, Beijing officials clearly valued him and were listening intently to what he had to say. In an unprecedented series of meetings for an American economic official, Mr Paulson had extensive meetings not only with his ministerial counterparts, but also with both President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. In the meeting with Mr Hu, the two men even held talks with only their interpreters present.
The only tangible product of Mr Paulson's visit was an agreement by the two sides to create a 'strategic economic dialogue'. While this is an excellent idea, the danger is that American politicians facing election in November will pooh-pooh the process and demand immediate progress.
As Mr Paulson himself said at the end of his four-day visit, if critics back home judge him on the results of one trip to China, then 'heaven help' the United States.
Mr Paulson's background as a businessman gives him credibility. As chairman of Goldman Sachs, his previous job, he visited China dozens of times. Moreover, instead of simply making demands of China - like some politicians - he makes it clear that his suggestions will benefit China as well as the US.
For example, instead of demanding that China open its capital markets, Mr Paulson told a student audience at Tsinghua University: 'One of the most important, fundamental things this country could do is to develop very strong capital markets. And the right way to do that is to open up to competition.'
Mr Paulson only has 2? years in his job before Mr Bush leaves office, in January 2009. But that is enough time in which to leave his mark. He clearly has the support of the president, who went along with his suggestion of creating a strategic economic dialogue with China.