China and US can still cooperate as competitors, Beijing’s former top trade negotiator says

Long Yongtu says the two economies are too intertwined to decouple and it’s more important than ever to work together

Head of team that steered China’s WTO entry in 2001 says post-pandemic relationship can be based on search for common ground

3-MIN READ3-MIN

Former top trade negotiator Long Yongtu says competition between China and the US does not have to lead to exclusion. Photo: Yujing Liu

Published: 6:00am, 15 Jun 2020Updated: 11:21am, 18 Jun 2020

Despite growing tensions, China and the United States must find a way to cooperate because their economies are too intertwined to decouple, according to a former top Chinese trade negotiator.

“At a time when the [coronavirus] pandemic is still threatening global cooperation, I think it’s even more important to uphold and carry forward a spirit of cooperation,” Long Yongtu, head of the Chinese team that negotiated the country’s 2001 entry into the World Trade Organisation, told a seminar in the eastern province of Jiangsu on Friday.

“Although the relationship between China and the US has been positioned as competitive, competitors don’t have to confront or clash with each other. Just like in a market economy, although many companies are competitors, competition doesn’t lead to exclusion or prevent finding a common interest.

“Since China and the US are already intertwined, [they] can find a place to cooperate.”

A transcript of Long’s comments were published Saturday by Chinese media and technology company iyiou, an organiser of the seminar.

“The US said it would like to continue to have an open and constructive relationship with China. So as long as China and the US are willing to seek common ground while reserving differences, they can form a cooperative relationship after the pandemic,” Long said, referring to US President Donald Trump’s sweep of announcements aimed at China over a range of issues including Beijing’s proposed national security law for Hong Kong.