40 years on, cooperation remains pillar of Sino-US relations

Forty years ago this month, 3,000 cases of Coca-Cola arrived in China by train, a long-awaited return of the iconic US beverage to the Chinese mainland.

The shipment came immediately after China and the United States established diplomatic relations on January 1, 1979, and was a highly significant event in the nation’s story of reform and opening-up.

“We had been ready for a long time,” said Zhang Jiantao, vice president of Coca-Cola China, Republic of Korea, and Mongolia. “For a multinational company like Coca-Cola, it was impossible not to want to explore the Chinese market. It was not a question of if, but of how, we would return to the mainland.”

The first US company to enter the Chinese mainland after 1979, Coca-Cola prided itself in taking the lead in serving Chinese consumers and making the country its third largest market globally, said Zhang.

“China and the US have both benefited greatly from their cooperation. It is a truly win-win outcome,” said Chen Dongxiao, president of Shanghai Institute for International Studies.

On February 21, 1972, US President Richard Nixon touched down in Beijing for his historic visit to China, opening what he called the “week that changed the world.”

On February 28, the last day of the trip, China and the US released the Shanghai Communique, the foundation of diplomatic ties.

In the Grand Hall of Jin Jiang Hotel in Shanghai, where the communique was released, hangs a photo of Nixon and then Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai drinking a toast.

In a book about the hotel, former employees recounted how they ensured Nixon’s stay in the hotel was a success.

“In 1972, Chinese staff, including waiters, doormen, and cooks, were shy and curious about the guests from the other side of the Pacific,” said former employee Qiu Huanxi. “We soon found the US staff shared almost the same mentality.

“The visit helped the two countries get to know each other, clear up misunderstandings and open up. This was good for both of us,” Qiu said.

China and the US have both benefited greatly from their cooperation. It is a truly win-win outcome

Chen Dongxiao

Cheng Ronggen, now vice president of Jin Jiang Premier Hotels, was a manager of the celebrated hotel for more than 20 years and met many VIPs at the hotel.

“US presidents Nixon, Carter, and George H.W. Bush have all visited Jin Jiang because, as Nixon said, this was where the US-China relationship started,” Cheng said.

Jeffrey Lehman, vice chancellor of New York University Shanghai, was in law school 40 years ago when he heard that the US and China were establishing diplomatic relations.

“This was front-page news in all the newspapers. We all knew that this was a momentous event for the United States,” he said.

What left a deeper impression on Lehman was Deng Xiaoping’s visit to the US in January 1979, when he and President Carter had dinner at the White House.

“They each spoke with deep emotion about the significance of the event and a form of cooperation that was going to benefit the entire world,” Lehman said. “It was very inspiring for us all.”

As vice chancellor of New York University Shanghai for over six years, Lehman is in the front line of people-to-people exchanges.

“We were the first Sino-American joint university. From the beginning, we knew it would be creating a new kind of university,” said Lehman.

NYU Shanghai now has 1,300 undergraduate and graduate students, about half of whom are from China. Students from the US and some 70 other countries make up the other half.

“NYU Shanghai has provided a platform for greater cooperation between China and the US,” said Yu Lizhong, chancellor of NYU Shanghai. “Young people’s attitudes will have a lasting impact on our shared future.”

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in September 2018 that only through cooperation could win-win be attained, and confrontation certainly led to a lose-lose scenario.

China-US interactions have grown into one of the most important bilateral relationships in the world, capable of navigating rough waters and moving forward.

“The two countries are different. We have different cultures, interests, and agendas. However, despite our differences, we can still enjoy the benefits of healthy curiosity and mutual benefit,” Lehman said.

“The idea is not to be united and identical, but to be united and different, with mutual respect,” he added.

Chen Dongxiao believes that despite some tensions in the 40 years of Sino-US relations, it was the foresight and sagacity of statesmen from both countries that helped the relationship move forward.

“Were it not for the resolve of leaders of both countries, there would have been more difficulties,” he said.