Recently, the IMF downgraded global growth prospects, due to projected slowdowns in the U.S. and China. Negative prospects could be overcome with the right policies, such as trade cooperation. The current ones support stagflation.

Washington intends to shed its reliance on multilateral mechanisms and form a new economic framework based on bilateral consultations. The IPEF is more of a contract aimed at solving particular issues than an agreement to ratchet up economic integration. And, of course, it aims to dent China’s influence.

In China’s new development stage, the growth cycle needs to address the structural issues of economic growth and take into full consideration the issues of group equity, intergenerational continuity and climate inclusion.

China has taken a path toward common prosperity that is different from that of the United States. It hopes to explore a Chinese solution characterized by modest, sustainable lifestyles that avoiding the overconsumption of the West. The race has just begun.

The deadline for China to reach the Phase 1 Trade Agreement targets has come and gone, and China has officially fallen short of its commitments. The two countries now must decide how to move forward.

ASEAN is the crossroads of the Pacific, and one of the world’s most strategically valuable trade routes. Their high volume of trade with both the U.S. and China put them at the intersection of something else - the escalating struggle between the two superpowers for global supremacy.

The globe got a great deal in December 2001. China has fulfilled all its commitments and continues to support and protect the organization. It is a model of success and an inspiration for others, especially in the developing world.

In a host of ways, the ,mega FTA, which spans two continents provides an antidote to rising global protectionism, unilateralism and the mindset of “my own interests first.”

The future looks bright, but China must maintain economic openness. Its average real rate of growth is likely to be around 6 percent. Meanwhile, rationality will prevail and a hot war with the U.S. will be avoided.

The new Covid-19 variant, Omicron, is throwing a wrench into the recovery of an already strained global supply chain.