Over the past months, both China and the United States have been shrouded in the dark clouds of a potential “trade war,” which attracted world attention as no one dares to guarantee what will happen in the event of a “trade war” between the world’s two largest economies. Now, the clouds seemed to have lifted somewhat as China and the United States issued a joint statement on May 19 on economic and trade consultations, vowing not to launch a “trade war” against each other.

This is the biggest achievement of the Sino-US economic and trade consultations during the second round of negotiations and is of great significance to both China and the US. It also comes as a relief to the global market.

Intellectual property protection is one of the core issues in the trade dispute between China and the United States. The American business community attaches great importance to it. At the same time, this is also the content that the US Congress and Trump administration have been stressing. In this statement, China expressed its intention to promote the revision of relevant laws and regulations, including its "Patent Law."

Some people think that constant pressure from the United States has caused China to take measures to strengthen the protection of intellectual property, including amending relevant laws and regulations. Actually, this is because they are unfamiliar with China.

China has already passed that stage.“The statement once again explains the importance of intellectual property protection, but this is not entirely to meet the requirements of the United States," said Li Yong, a senior fellow with the China Association of International Trade. "Strengthening intellectual property protection is also China’s hope. It is also to meet China’s actual needs, and China has been doing this work for a long time.”

Besides, at this year’s Boao Forum for Asia, Chinese President Xi Jinping had emphasized in a keynote speech that “IPR protection is the centerpiece of the system for improving property rights protection and it will provide the biggest boost to enhancing the competitiveness of the Chinese economy. Stronger IPR protection is the requirement of foreign enterprises, and even more so of Chinese enterprises.

“If China can meet international standards, China’s operating environment will have greater changes.”

US President Donald Trump (L) tweeted this picture on May 17, 2018: "Talking trade with the Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China, Liu He."

Li said that during the negotiations, China can better understand the appeal of the United States and in the future, both China and the US will make their efforts to reach a consensus on this issue.

According to the statement, the two sides agreed to encourage "two-way investment." This shows that not only the United States invests in China but also China’s investment in the US should also be encouraged.

“China is becoming more and more open. We hope that China’s investment in the United States will be treated fairly. This requires the United States to make substantive and constructive changes. The United States should not always make a political interpretation of China’s investment.”

In Li’s opinion, after 40 years of reform and opening-up, China is now more mature than in the past. China has sufficient capabilities to meet various challenges. The United States should be able to see the future development prospects of China and allow China to invest. It will be a win-win result.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, a member of the US trade delegation to China, waves to the media as he returns to a hotel in Beijing, May 3, 2018.

China will also purchase a substantial amount of goods and services from the United States to meet the growing consumer demand of the Chinese people and promote high-quality economic development.

The content of the joint statement reflects the principle of "equality and mutual benefit" that China has consistently adhered to, and shows its greatest sincerity to ensure that economic and trade cooperation continues to be the ballast stone and propeller for Sino-US relations.

“With the rapid development of China’s economy, China’s economic volume continues to surge and the needs of the Chinese people also continue to increase. China’s unbalanced and inadequate development needs to optimize resource allocation globally. In this way, the increased purchase of goods and services from the US is good for China,” said Li.

However, it must be pointed out that higher imports do not mean a strong buy-and-sell competition. If the US doesn’t sell their competitive products, but only distributes uncompetitive products to China, then the trade dispute won’t be solved forever.

Of course, the Sino-US economic and trade issues are very complex. There is still a long way to go for both sides to implement the consensus in the joint statement. Perhaps, in terms of a specific product or service, the two parties also need to negotiate repeatedly.

Anyway, after nearly two months of confrontation, negotiation and consultation, substantial progress has been made. This is of great significance for leading the healthy development of Sino-US relations and advancing the stability and prosperity of the global economy. The future is worth expectation.