REPORT: U.S.-China: Paving a Better Way Forward
U.S.-China: Paving a Better Way Forward
By Susan A. Thornton and Emily Sparkman
July 2024
The National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP) hosted its annual U.S.-China Strategic Dialogue in New York City in early May, shortly after Secretary of State Blinken’s visit to China. Experts from the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) assessed the current state of bilateral relations and discussed opportunities and challenges for managing the future of the relationship in the face of the upcoming U.S. Presidential Election, ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and numerous other points of contention in the Indo-Pacific region.
The following are key recommendations and takeaways from the discussions:
- There was unanimous agreement among participants to make use of non-official channels such as travel incentives and tourist promotion to restore these ties in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The two governments should do more to make their support for such exchanges clear and to remove obstacles to, and suspicions about, such travel and exchanges.
- Despite the perceived end of the globalization era and ongoing supply chain disruptions, both
U.S. and Chinese participants were optimistic that the two countries can preserve economic and
scientific cooperation that is mutually beneficial, keeping national security restrictions to a
minimum. - Participants specified that preserving the World Trade Organization (WTO) should be at the forefront of the agenda and recommended that the U.S. and China engage in dialogue on a new WTO-centered approach to subsidies, emphasizing sustainable development and clean energy transitions.
Read the NCAFP’s latest conference report, “U.S.-China: Paving a Better Way Forward,” to learn more about additional policy recommendations and observations from this Track II dialogue.