No CrossRef data available.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 May 2025
In the twenty-first century, American-Chinese relations offers both a challenge and an opportunity for the United States, China, and the entire world. Since both countries reopened their doors to each other in 1971, their economic and financial ties have been widely viewed as the “ballast” (ya cangshi压舱石) of an uneasy relationship.
1 This article draws on, updates, and expands from the following earlier publications: The United States and China: A History from the Eighteenth Century to the Present (Rowman & Littlefield, January 2013), chapters 10, 11 and 12; “China's Trade Relations with the United States in Perspective,” The Journal of Current Chinese Affairs 39, no. 3 (October 2010): 165-210.
2 For an analysis of American-centered interdependency, see Michael Hudson, Super Imperialism: The Origin and Fundamentals of U.S. World Dominance (London: Pluto Press, 2003), pp. 377-393.
3 Since the 1980s, the two nations have drastically differed on the extent of trade and the trade deficit. The controversy over statistics originated in a number of areas: the two sides’ different accounting approaches to re-exports to and from China via Hong Kong; U.S. policy constraints on exports to China; the role of foreign firms in China; the multinational trade in commercial services; and global outsourcing and capital flows in the increasingly interdependent East Asian and world economy. See below for further explanation.
4 For the importance of norms and institutions in understanding economic change, see Douglas C. North, Understanding the Process of Economic Change (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2005).
5 James Reston, “China and the Dollar,” New York Times (August 20, 1971), p. 33.
6 Relaxation of Restrictions on Trade with the People's Republic of China, National Security Decision Memorandum 155, February 17, 1972, Nixon Library. link (accessed on May 27, 2011).
7 Sarah Y. Tong, “The US-China Trade Imbalance: How Big Is It Really?” China: An International Journal 3, no. 1 (March 2005): 131-154.
8 Joseph Kahn, “Executives Make Trade with China a Moral Issue,” New York Times, February 13, 2000, link (accessed on December 14, 2011).
9 Erik Eckholm, “In China, So Many Liberties, So little Freedom,” New York Times, January 3, 1999, Section 4, p. 1.
10 Chinese UN envoy Huang Xueqi's speech at the UN second committee, November 13, 1999, Summary of World Broadcasts, November 15, 1999, FE/3692 G/1 and G/2.
11 Hu Angang (胡鞍钢), Yan Yilong (鄢一龙), and Wei Xing (魏星), 2030 Zhongguo: Maixiang gongtong de fuyu [2030 中国:迈向共同的富 裕 2030 China: Striding towards co-prosperity] (Beijing: Renmin daxue chubanshe, 2011). Also see Arvind Subramanian, Eclipse: Living in the Shadow of China's Economic Dominance (D.C.: Peterson Institute for International Economics, 2011).
12 The US-China Business Council, April 2011, “China and the US Economy: Advancing a Winning Trade Agenda,” p. 12, link (accessed on July 29, 2011), and its January 2013 version, link (accessed March 6, 2013), p. 11.
13 Gary M. Walton and Hugh Rockoff, History of the American Economy (Forth Worth, Tex.: The Dayton Press, 1998), 8th ed., pp. 733-735.
14 Pingfan Hong, “China's Economic Prospects and Sino-US Economic Relations,” China & World Economy 14, no. 2 (2006): 45-55.
15 Han Yugui (韩玉贵), Lengzhan hou de Zhongmei guanxi [冷战后的中美关系Sino-American relations in the post-Cold War era] (Beijing: Shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe, 2007). Yang Guohua (杨国华), Zhongmei zhishi chanquan wenti gaiguan [中美知识产权问题概 观A brief examination of the U.S.-China intellectual property question] (Beijing: Zhishi chanquan chubanshe, 2008). Ling Jintao (凌金 涛), Zhishi chanquan yu Zhongmei guanxi, 1989-1996 [知识产权与中美关系Intellectual property rights and Sino-American relations] (Shanghai: Shanghai renmin chubanshe, 2007). John Frisbie, “China's Implementation of its World Trade Organization Commitments: An Assessment by the US-China Business Council,” Testimony for the Trade Policy Staff Committee on October 2, 2009 (D.C.: The US-China Business Council, 2009).
16 Hang-Sheng Cheng, “Comments on Xianquan Xu's Chapter,” in Shuxun Chen and Charles Wolf, Jr., eds., China, the United States, and the Global Economy (Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND, 2001), p. 253.
17 “US-China Trade in Context,” link (accessed on June 9, 2013).
18 Michael Hudson, Super Imperialism, p. 23 and p. 377.
19 “1998 nian Guowuyuan jigou gaige fang’an,” [1998 年国务院机构改革方案 The State Council structural reform plan for 1998] link (accessed June 9, 2013).
20 The World Trade Organization, International Trade Statistics 2012, p. 29. link (accessed March 6, 2013).
21 Robert S. Ross, “The Problem with the Pivot,” Foreign Affairs 91, no. 6 (November/December 2012), link (accessed on March 8, 2013). Kevin Rudd, “Beyond the Pivot,” Foreign Affairs 92, no. 2 (March/April 2013), link (accessed on March 8, 2013).
22 On the inadequacy of the WTO, see Aaditya Mattoo and Arvind Subramanian, “From Doha to the Next Bretton Woods: A New Multilateral Agenda,” Foreign Affairs 88, no. 1 (January/February 2009): 15-26.
23 Todd Balazovic's interview with Patrick Chovanec, “Trade Friction Is Teething Problem,” China Daily European Weekly, January 25-31, 2013, p. 32.
24 Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming's press conference on March 8, 2013, link (accessed on March 8, 2013).
25 Zhang Huanbo, “Outbound Investment Strategy Needs to Be Revamped,” China Daily European Weekly, January 4-10, 2013, p. 9.
You have
Access
Open access