On February 21, He Lifeng, the leader of China-US economic and trade, and Vice Premier of the State Council, held a video call with US Treasury Secretary Becent at the request.

This is the first call between senior officials in the economic field in China and the United States since the Trump administration took office. Under the current severe situation of Sino-US relations and Sino-US economic and trade relations, what signals has this communication sent?

Economic and trade relations are very important, and we need to talk about the importance of China-US economic and trade relations in communication.

As President Xi Jinping emphasized on the phone call with Trump on the evening of January 17, the two great countries of China and the United States are pursuing their respective dreams and are committed to allowing people to live a better life. China and the United States have broad common interests and broad space for cooperation, and can become partners and friends. The essence of Sino-US economic and trade relations is mutual benefit and win-win results, and confrontation and conflict should not be our choice.

It is not difficult to find that China views and handles Sino-US economic and trade relations from the perspective of the common interests of the two countries and the peoples. The position is consistent.

In 2024, Sino-US trade volume increased by 3.7% against the trend, reaching US$688.28 billion. In recent years, Sino-US relations have experienced ups and downs, but huge scale of Sino-US economic and trade cooperation is still underway, which only shows that both companies and people both sides benefit from it and have the motivation to cooperate. Some countries do not say this but know this in their hearts.

Last year, the overall U.S. trade deficit hit a new high, up about 50% from before the tariff war began in 2017. Eight years have passed, and tariffs have not resolved the concerns of the United States. Differences and contradictions must ultimately be resolved through communication and consultation.

Serious concerns about the US tariffs on China

In this communication, China expressed solemn concerns about the recent restrictions on the US imposed tariffs on China.

Previously, in the face of the unilateral tariff measures against China initiated by the US, China did what it said and carried out a resolute tariff counter. During the call, China must have further clarified its principled position. If the US has other actions in the future, China will definitely take resolute measures to safeguard its own interests.

Cui Fan, a professor at the School of International Economics and Trade at the University of International Business and Economics, told Tan Zhu:

The US government has significantly increased the number of targets for this round of tariffs, and the intensity is significantly greater. The role of tariffs as fiscal revenue is gradually becoming more prominent. The biggest reason is the fiscal pressure in the United States. Domestic tax cuts must be hedged to a certain extent by adding taxes. Tariffs have become an idea for the US government to solve domestic economic problems from a long-term perspective.

At the same time, it is more clear that tariffs are also a "card" for the US to start foreign negotiations and affect the negotiation situation. Trump has publicly stated that he hopes to reach a "big agreement" with China, which may cover issues such as large-scale procurement, investment commitments, and nuclear security.

If formal negotiations begin between China and the United States in the later period, it is still a high probability that the United States will intermittently wield the tariff stick.

The Chinese side knows these things well and treats them calmly.

The same thing, talk, the door is open. Fight and accompany you to the end.

Agree to continue communication

The Chinese press release shows that the two sides agreed to continue communication on issues of concern to each other. The US side said that Treasury Secretary Becent and Vice Premier He Lifeng agreed to continue to communicate. This shows that high-level interactions in the economic fields of the two countries will continue.

At the same time, according to Mr. Tan, the heads of some Chinese economic and trade departments have recently sent congratulatory letters to the new senior economic and trade officials of the United States, showing China's constructive attitude of maintaining communication channels between economic and trade departments, and has also received positive responses from the United States.

In fact, there are many topics to be discussed in the economic and trade fields of China and the United States, not only the concerns of both sides, but also the macroeconomic communication and coordination between the two countries, jointly responding to global challenges, etc. The two sides have always maintained close communication through multilateral mechanisms such as the G20 and APEC financial channels. These are of great significance to both countries and the world.

Recently, the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and the U.S.-China Trade Commission have also put forward suggestions on strengthening U.S.-China communication and cooperation and achieving early gains, saying that maintaining stability in U.S.-China relations is beneficial to both countries and the world.

The world needs communication between China and the United States, and China and the United States need to move towards each other.