Online Seminar: How can China and US cooperate to fight COVID-19

As the on-going COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread globally, the global economy will suffer from the impact of quarantined consumers and disrupted supply chains. As the two most important economies in the world, China and the United States can play a vital role in fighting the epidemic and its impact on the global economic.

On March 19, 2020, the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) held an online seminar, bringing together several experts and scholars to discuss China-US cooperation on the coronavirus, sharing views on mitigating the negative impact of the epidemic on the global economy.

CCG Vice President Victor Gao said that China is not an enemy of the US, and that the Chinese people are friends of the American people. Cooperation between China and the US is beneficial to both countries.

Cui Fan, CCG non-resident senior fellow and professor of the School of International Trade and Economics at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) emphasized that China and the US can prevent deterioration of China-US trade relations through more economic and trade dialogue as well as cooperation on the implementation of the US-China phase one trade deal.

Huo Jianguo, CCG non-resident senior fellow and vice chair of China Society for World Trade Organization Studies and former director of Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said that the result of the US 2020 election would be impacted by this epidemic and economic changes. As the entire situation unfolds, there may be some changes in the future of US-China relations.

Sun Yongfu, CCG non-resident senior fellow and former director-general of Department of European Affairs of the Ministry of Commerce, pointed out that China and the US should strengthen collaboration in science and technology, especially in vaccine research to combat the coronavirus, and should support and cooperate in trade.

Su Hao, CCG non-resident senior fellow and director of the Center for Strategy and Peace Studies at the China Foreign Affairs University, stressed that China and the US should understand that the two countries have different approaches to fight against COVID-19, and they should respect each other.

Teng Jianqun, CCG non-resident senior fellow and director of the Department for American Studies and Center for Arms Control and International Security at the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS), said that it is a fact that the COVID-19 pandemic may have more impact on US-China relations due to the disrupted supply chain, compared to the effects of the trade war.

Xia Liping, dean and professor of School of Political Science & International Relations at Tongji University, emphasized that China and the US should cooperate to promote the positives of US-China relations. The more complicated the situation is, the more we should maintain our friendship.

Xu Hongcai, CCG non-resident senior fellow and deputy chief economist of China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE), said that China and the United States now have an opportunity in terms of trade cooperation. The two countries should work together on the implementation of the phase-one trade agreement, but also find ways to expand trade.

Xu Zhengzhong, professor of Party School of the Central Committee of CPC, said that the risks of current disruptions to global supply chains due to the coronavirus outbreak are much higher than that because of US-China “decoupling”.