China, US researchers share views after fact-finding trip

Researchers from China and the United States shared views on a wide range of issues at a roundtable meeting themed "Management and Cooperation in China-US Relations in an Era of Competition" on Tuesday in Shanghai.

Organized by Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, the roundtable meeting also signified the end of a weeklong visit by about 20 American young leaders to Shanghai, Nanjing and Wuhan, with a particular focus on green development, regional economic development, and new energy. The event this year, building on the success of the first program in 2023, helped the visitors to acquire first-hand knowledge of China.

"I see your itinerary had about 20 formal meetings, visits, and discussions, and I think that through such an intensive program, you had a chance to be engaged with quite a number of aspects of China, Chinese people from the academic communities, from business companies, as well as those from our local government," said Chen Dongxiao, president of SIIS, in addressing the roundtable.

Chen believed the program would enable the visitors to have a better and deeper understanding of China today, as well as a better perception of the complexity of bilateral relationships.

"If you have a deeper and better understanding of the complexity of the bilateral relationship, and have a more diversified and different perspective on the bilateral issue, this is the single most important goal of these programs," Chen said.

Chen said that over the past four years, he had observed the bilateral relationship on track to restabilize, although it was still "very fragile."

During the discussions, scholars shared their views on a wide range of issues including the perception gap between China and the US, US-China climate cooperation in times of geopolitical challenges, and the reduction of nuclear risk.

The participants were impressed by what they saw and learned during the weeklong trip.

Chelsea Toczauer, a global affairs consultant (Asia and Eastern Europe) with GeoStrategic Analysis Inc, said that the visits gave her insights into broader issues at stake.

"I think that sometimes as researchers, we can get a bit stuck within our own tunnel vision and this has really been quite enlightening," she said.

"As you probably noticed, we like asking questions," said Savannah Billman, a senior digital communications associate for the National Committee on US-China. "We had a lot of this type of open discussion forums where interlocutors were so willing to answer our questions and speak candidly and clearly about issues that they were facing."

She added highlights of the schedule included a visit to the Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange, "where we got to kind of learn a bit more about how innovation works in today's China, not only the process of innovation but how it interacts with national and local government standards and regulations, and how they actually get laid out and disseminated across the country."

This led her wondering if a similar process could be implemented in other contexts and countries as well.

In his closing remarks, Adam K. Webb, American co-director of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, praised his agency's role in its 40 year history of "trying to provide a platform for thinking" about critical issues, without necessarily taking for granted any particular conclusion or framing of the questions.