After three months without high-level dialogue or contacts between the American and Chinese governments, the past week saw a flurry of direct exchanges. The talks were meant to stabilize strained ties, put a floor under the deteriorating relationship and work out a road map for future discussions and exchanges. While prudence is warranted, there can be some solace taken in the fact that senior officials are at least talking directly again.

The Austria meeting between China’s Wang Yi and America’s Jake Sullivan has injected positive energy into China-U.S. relations, not only for both major economies but also for the global economic recovery. It kept the door open for future dialogue and moved a step closer to stability.

China and the United States are showing early signs of rapprochement on major strategic issues, offering hope for positive movement in the future. But a gap remains between the Biden administration’s rhetoric and its deeds. Practical action to fulfill policy commitments is a crucial first step toward trust.

The deepened military relations between China and Russia was inevitable in response to challenges from the West. Conflict does not arise simply over current security considerations. It may be triggered by concerns over the changing international balance of power.

Weaponized interdependence, through which powerful states leverage their position in the global network to achieve strategic goals, is increasingly relevant in the U.S.-China relationship. The U.S. uses its market power and network of alliances to exclude adversaries from the global dollar-dominated system, but this approach has also accelerated the process of global multipolarity and created opportunities for other countries to create alternative ecosystems.

Any easing of China-U.S. relations will have twists and turns, and material improvement is unlikely to come soon. But both sides can learn from America’s Cold War standoff with the USSR, when mechanisms were built that avoided war. That process can be followed again.

China and Russia recently released a joint statement to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries. But while Russia is now poised to get closer to China than it was before, it still has a long way to go to catch up to the U.S.-China relationship.

The hype over a separation of China and the United States is rooted in a new cold war mentality. But Premier Li Qiang said the two can and must cooperate. There is much they can achieve by working together, while encirclement and suppression is in no one’s interest.

At the recent two sessions of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Beijing, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Foreign Minister Qin Gang reiterated China's policy towards the US. Their statements included several important messages that the US should take to heart if it hopes to manage the Sino-US relationship successfully.

The deteriorating state of Sino-American relations is causing increasing concern as both sides engage in aggressive rhetoric and actions across multiple dimensions of their relationship. Academics, corporations, investors, and citizens must prepare for the worst by scenario planning, and adjusting their mindsets to brace for a prolonged period of rivalry, while remaining on the lookout for opportunities for collaboration and bridge-building.