While the incoming Trump administration has stirred fears that it will direct the US in an inward direction, there is plenty of reason to think that the new president is pro-trade in ways that will re-shape but not destroy the global playing field.

Americans should understand that a harmonious, prosperous, powerful yet responsible United States constitutes part of the favorable external environment that China wishes to have. That understanding is also best for the well-being of both countries.

It is foreseeable that the “America first” policy will undermine the present global economic and geopolitical patterns, bringing uncertainty to the world. But so long as both sides give up the mentality of zero-sum rivalry and persist in cooperation, the Sino-US relationship will come through the current period of uncertainty and maintain the momentum of steady and healthy development.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, in his unprecedented appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, calls for new models of global growth, cooperation, governance and development.

The world was shaken up last year by events from populist movements to terrorism to shifting alliances. How major powers react to this volatility – and to each other – will determine if 2017 extends the chaos or shapes a new world order.

The contrast between a collapsing neo-liberalism of the west and the much-welcomed new development model espoused and practiced by China is not to be missed.

The U.S. has long used dialogue to prod China to act in a manner supportive of global norms and institutions. In 2005, then Undersecretary of State Robert Zoellick gave a speech where he called on China to start acting as a responsible stakeholder of the global governance regime. Some eleven years later, the lectured became the lecturer. Rather than the U.S. lecturing China, China is calling on the U.S. to act responsibly in relation to global trade and climate norms.

Democracies aim to improve their democratic system while learning from the best of meritocratic practices, and meritocracies aim to improve their meritocratic system while learning from the best of democratic practices. There is no more talk about which system is superior: both political systems recognize each other as morally legitimate even though they are built on different foundations. The United States is the dominant power in the West, China in East Asia, but they strive to cooperate in areas of common concerns.

Globalization is always an evolving process, with inevitable ups and downs and not moving in a linear fashion. Despite populist reservations in the US and UK, the international community has become intertwined and interdependent, thanks to global free trade and investment. Cooperation to tackle global challenges will continue while more efforts will address the “global governance deficiency” in promoting social justice and fairness such the widening gap between rich and poor both domestically and among nations.

The US has shown no desire to defend the arbitration award with force as hinted by the exercise in the Philippine Sea. Although the American strategic community now sees markedly greater risks of military conflict with China, US decision-makers also don’t believe that the US has the ability to change or stop China’s international conduct by force.