An agreement reached between China and the US over their trade disputes has created unease among some of China's trade partners, particularly those in Europe, who fear a potential China-US deal could come at their cost, but Chinese experts allayed their fears.

China and the US may see up to 10 years of fluctuating relations after the pandemic. US politicians calling for decoupling from China are simply naïve, and economic principles are more important. 

Bilateral trade between the two largest economies in the world has been declining due to economic fallout from the pandemic on the one hand, and constant disruptive political measures from the US on the other hand.

Among the disruptive measures, the US has been calling for an industrial relocation out of China, but similar campaigns were launched by Western countries after the 2008 financial crisis, and China still remained the world's largest manufacturing country.

In March and April, as COVID-19 kept spreading around the world, many top multinationals encountered difficulties in production across the world, except in China which has brought the epidemic largely under control. The decoupling requirement for US firms under such circumstances is nothing but cutting off their silver lining amid the gloomy global economy.

Market principles are realistic and won't play along with these naïve statements by some US politicians.

China has been firmly promoting reform and opening-up, and has kept improving its business environment for firms from both home and overseas, which is quite different from US policies in recent years. With a large domestic market, Chinese industries can develop and enhance their global competitiveness based on the home market, and China will keep opening up to the world and upholding the multilateral trading system. 

The article was compiled based on an interview with Mei Xinyu by the Global Times. Mei is a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn