Gao Fei on Building a China-US Relationship of Constructive Strategic Stability - Unpacking China's Vision for World Order

In today’s edition of the paper, there’s an article by Gao Fei, who heads the China Foreign Affairs University. There are some interesting takeaways from the piece that I’d like to highlight before sharing the full text.

• First, Gao argues that the current dialogue process between China and the US is a product of Beijing having successfully resisted and pushed back against American pressure. In other words, it is Chinese strength and capabilities that have got the US to realise that “containing and suppressing China does not work.”

• Second, I am struck by the turn around in discourse between the two countries. In 2022-23, it was the Biden administration that was talking about guardrails. In 2026, it is the Chinese side that’s talking about the need to “manage the boundaries of competition.” I think it is worth keeping this in mind. Beijing, as some analysts have noted, views the US as a declining but still a very dangerous hegemon that is lashing out. This shifting perception has likely led to greater prudence.

• Finally, I think it is interesting that Gao invokes the concept of building a “new type of major-country relationship” as a goal for China and the US in the long term. This was a proposal from Xi to Obama in Sunnylands in 2013. The American side had rejected the framing. In this article, Gao still seems to articulate that as the eventual destination for the bilateral relationship, with “constructive strategic stability” being the pathway toward getting there.

Anyway, here’s the full piece:

“At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, US President Donald Trump paid a state visit to China from May 13 to 15. The two heads of state agreed to take ‘China-US relationship of constructive strategic stability’ as the new positioning of bilateral relations, providing strategic guidance for China-US relations over the next three years and even longer, transmitting a positive signal of peace and cooperation to a world interwoven with transformation and turbulence.应国家主席习近平邀请，美国总统特朗普于5月13日至15日对中国进行国事访问。两国元首同意将“中美建设性战略稳定关系”作为两国关系的新定位，为未来3年乃至更长时间的中美关系提供了战略指引，更向变乱交织的世界传递了和平与合作的积极信号.

China and the United States are both permanent members of the UN Security Council, are respectively the largest developing country and the largest developed country in the world, together account for more than one-third of the world’s total economic output and approximately one-fifth of the world’s merchandise trade, with bilateral trade exceeding $500 billion. The two economies are massive in scale and their interests are deeply intertwined; once conflict and confrontation occur, it would not only cause the peoples of both countries to suffer huge losses, but would also impact the stability of global industrial and supply chains and trigger multiple crises such as energy and food security. After multiple rounds of intense contest, the US side has gradually recognised that containing and suppressing China does not work, and that dialogue and consultation are the correct choice. Competition has never constituted the entirety of China-US relations; areas of cooperation far outweigh their differences. History has repeatedly proven that when China and the US cooperate, both benefit, and when they fight, both are harmed; that mutual benefit and win-win, rather than zero-sum games, is the essence of bilateral relations. 中美同为联合国安理会常任理事国，分别是世界上最大的发展中国家和最大的发达国家，经济总量超过世界1/3，货物贸易额约占世界1/5，双边贸易额超过5000亿美元。两国经济体量庞大、利益深度交融，一旦发生冲突对抗，不仅会让两国人民蒙受巨大损失，更会冲击全球产业链供应链稳定，引发能源、粮食安全等多重危机。经过多轮激烈博弈，美方逐渐认识到遏制打压中国行不通，对话协商才是正确选择。竞争从不是中美关系的全部，合作领域远超分歧。历史反复证明，中美合则两利、斗则俱伤，互利共赢而非零和博弈才是双边关系的本质.

Building a ‘China-US relationship of constructive strategic stability’ conforms to the trend of the times and accords with the widespread expectations of countries around the world. From trade exchanges and technological cooperation to mutual learning between civilizations, every positive advance in China-US relations in the past has brought a tangible sense of gain to the peoples of both countries. During this China-US summit meeting, the two sides agreed to establish a Trade Council and an Investment Council, resolve each other’s concerns regarding market access for agricultural products, promote the expansion of two-way trade under a framework of reciprocal tariff reductions, and exchanged views on major international and regional issues such as the Middle East situation, the Ukraine crisis, and the Korean Peninsula. At present, the profound changes unseen in a century are accelerating their evolution, while global deficits in peace, development, security, and governance continue to worsen. The international community, more than at any previous time, needs a China-US relationship possessing strategic, constructive, and stable characteristics. Realising the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can fully proceed in parallel without contradiction, mutually accomplish each other, and benefit the world. If China and the US manage the boundaries of competition, safeguard the bottom line of cooperation, and keep channels of exchange open, in accordance with the great historical trend and the broad expectations of the international community, they will inject more stability and certainty into a world interwoven with transformation and turbulence. 构建“中美建设性战略稳定关系”，顺应时代潮流，契合世界各国的普遍期待。从贸易往来、科技合作到文明互鉴，过去中美关系的每一次积极推进，都为两国民众带来了实实在在的获得感。此次中美元首会晤，双方同意成立贸易理事会和投资理事会，解决彼此农产品市场准入的关切，在对等降税框架下推动扩大双向贸易等，并就中东局势、乌克兰危机、朝鲜半岛等重大国际和地区问题交换了意见。当前，百年变局加速演进，全球和平赤字、发展赤字、安全赤字、治理赤字持续加重，国际社会比以往任何时候都更需要一个具有战略性、建设性、稳定性的中美关系。实现中华民族伟大复兴和让美国再次伟大，完全可以并行不悖、相互成就、造福世界。中美管控竞争边界，守住合作底线，畅通交流渠道，顺应历史大势和国际社会广泛期待，将为变乱交织的世界注入更多稳定性和确定性.

Building a ‘China-US relationship of constructive strategic stability’ places emphasis on grasping its profound connotations, in order to re-establish for China-US relations a basic order that prevents loss of control/spiralling out of control, maintains cooperation, and guides peace. As President Xi Jinping pointed out, ‘constructive strategic stability’ should be positive stability centered on cooperation, benign stability with competition within proper limits, normalised stability in which differences are controllable, and durable stability in which peace can be anticipated. This important assertion has pointed out the direction for the way major powers should get along in the new era. Under the current international situation interwoven with transformation and turbulence, China and the US should display the responsibility of major countries, make rational and pragmatic choices, resolutely avoid the world sliding toward the danger of a ‘new Cold War’, and jointly inject stability and certainty into the cause of peace and development for humanity. Under the strategic guidance of head-of-state diplomacy, China and the US should grasp the new positioning, calibrate the new course, and push the relationship to stride forward into a new era. 构建“中美建设性战略稳定关系”，重在把握其深刻内涵，为中美关系重新确立避免失控、保持合作、引领和平的基本秩序。正如习近平主席所指出，“建设性战略稳定”应该是合作为主的积极稳定，应该是竞争有度的良性稳定，应该是分歧可控的常态稳定，应该是和平可期的持久稳定。这一重要论断为新时代大国相处之道指明了方向。当前国际形势变乱交织，中美理应展现大国担当，做出理性务实的抉择，坚决避免世界滑向“新冷战”的危险，共同为人类和平与发展事业注入稳定性和确定性。在元首外交的战略引领下，中美双方应把握新定位、校准新航向，推动中美关系阔步迈向新时代.

The vast Pacific Ocean can accommodate both China and the US, as well as other countries, and the constantly emerging global challenges call all the more for the two countries to shoulder the responsibilities of major powers. Stability in China-US relations will open broad space for both sides to expand cooperation from a higher starting point. From responding to global challenges such as climate change, public health, and AI, to maintaining the stability of industrial and supply chains and improving the global economic order, the two countries’ common interests are broad and far-reaching. Jointly building a more just and rational global governance system is not only an intrinsic requirement of bilateral relations, but also a shared responsibility borne toward the world. 宽广的太平洋可以容纳中美两国和其他国家，层出不穷的全球性挑战更呼唤两国担当大国责任。中美关系的稳定，将为双方在更高起点上拓展合作开辟广阔空间。从应对气候变化、公共卫生、人工智能等全球性挑战，到维护产业链供应链稳定、完善全球经济秩序，两国共同利益广泛而深远，携手构建更加公正合理的全球治理体系，既是双边关系的内在要求，更是对世界承担的共同责任.

At the same time, it should also be soberly recognized that the structural contradictions between China and the US will not be resolved overnight, and that many of the difficult problems facing the world still await solution; this requires both sides to grasp the overall situation with strategic resolve, properly handle differences with a constructive attitude, and jointly devise the future with innovative wisdom.So long as they uphold the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and cooperation for mutual win-win outcomes, China and the US can transcend the historical cage of the ‘Thucydides Trap’ and open up the broad road for a new type of major-country relationship (新型大国关系). As times change and the world transforms, China-US relations cannot simply return to the past, but they can entirely write a brand-new chapter in how major powers get along in the new era, joining hands to seek happiness for the peoples of both countries and great harmony for human society, and jointly promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind toward a bright future. 同时也应清醒看到，中美之间的结构性矛盾不会一夜化解，世界面临的诸多难题仍待求解，需要双方以战略定力把握大局，以建设性态度妥处分歧，以创新智慧共谋未来。只要秉持相互尊重、和平共处、合作共赢的原则，中美就能跨越“修昔底德陷阱”的历史窠臼，开辟新型大国关系的康庄大道。时移世易，中美关系无法简单回到过去，但完全可以在新时代书写大国相处的崭新篇章，携手为两国人民谋幸福、为人类社会谋大同，共同推动构建人类命运共同体迈向光明未来.

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New Project: China’s Vision for World Order

I’d also like to share a new project on China’s Vision for World Order that I’ve been developing, based on the research I’ve done on China’s global initiatives and the concept of a community of common destiny. There has been a great deal of discussion around China’s vision for the world order, and around what the initiatives and the CCD concept actually mean in practice. This website is my attempt to disaggregate some of that, set out the initiatives clearly, draw out the connections between them, and pull together the relevant data sources wherever applicable.

I am sure there is much that can be improved, and I would like to think of this as a project we can build out collaboratively. If there are pieces of information you think should be added, refined, or amended, please do write to me. My hope is that this can evolve into a community project that others can help shape and grow over time.

Do please take a look and share your feedback. As with the other experiments I have been running, this is part of a wider effort to use new technologies to enable better visualisation and easier understanding of genuinely complex subjects.