As America’s election season nears its finish, the debate seems to have come unhinged. Nowhere is that more evident than in the fixation on China – singled out by both President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney.

Increasingly harsh rhetoric and combative trade actions between China and the US have given rise to the belief both countries are inevitably headed toward a new Cold-War style confrontation. However this outdated Cold-War framework does not take into account the full extent of China-US ties and the shared incentives both countries have in seeing the other succeed.

As the US Presidential election heats up, both candidates are focusing their criticism on job losses to China. Recent accusations by the Obama administration, bringing an auto and auto parts subsidy case before the WTO, will only heighten trade tensions. But are these disputes helping or hurting global markets?

With China’s economy slowing in recent months and the US economic recovery still sluggish, both countries have emphasized trade as a means of promoting and sustaining growth. While the possibility of economic friction between China and the US certainly exists, increasing trade does not need to be a zero sum game.

Last week at the Democratic National Convention, held in Charlotte, North Carolina, a woman peddling bumper stickers outside the event's venue shouted to pa

Despite the international attention given to China’s recent loans to Venezuela, such actions are consistent with China’s overall policy of seeking new opportunities for its own economic development. China walks a fine line between development trade relations with Latin American countries while trying not to alarm the United States.

Increasing pessimism about the Chinese economic outlook is emerging owing to the euro-zone debt crisis and gloomy recovery in the United States. Justin Yifu Lin, former Vice President of the World Bank, predicted that China can maintain 8-percent annual economic growth for the next two decades at a conference recently held in Beijing.

A highlight of the recent China-Japan-ROK summit was an agreement by the three neighbors to kick off free trade zone talks as soon as possible. The initiative i

For too long, the United States has allowed its fixation on the renminbi’s exchange rate to deflect attention from far more important issues in its economic relationship with China. For a growth-starved US, the opportunities for access to China’s markets far outweigh the currency threat.

During the BRICS Summit in New Delhi on April 8 2012, the leaders of the five developing countries agreed to “enhance intra-BRICS trade” and agreed on an acco