In recent years, Sino-Russian relations have become a model of great power relations with high degree of mutual trust, high level of collaboration and high strategic value. After the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the assessment of the challenges for China-Russia relations in the external environment, the understanding of the conflict’s role in reshaping China-Russia relations, and the examination of the prospects of China-Russia relations have been critical in the analysis of how the Russia-Ukraine conflict will impact the game of great powers.

The year 2022 will mark 50 years since US President Richard Nixon traveled to China to meet with Communist Party of China Chairman Mao Zedong and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai – a major step toward restoring relations after decades of estrangement and hostility. A half-century later, the progress they launched has been all but lost, and US President Joe Biden is partly to blame.

Worries by the United States that China will take over its leadership role are based on a serious strategic misunderstanding. The road ahead for the international power structure as it shifts to a multipolar pattern may be long and difficult, but the prospects are promising.

A series of policies in the U.S. has made life much more difficult for China concepts stock companies. CCS listings in the U.S. are emerging as the next big risk, and the adoption of the variable interest entity structure, or VIE, is storing up trouble.

Maintaining strategic security and its stature as a major global power are the country’s priorities. While its economy is relatively weak, Russia’s military power, its experience and its influence in global affairs means that it will continue to be an important player in shaping the international landscape.

For the United States, the Nord Stream 2 gas project is a reminder of its waning global hegemony. Its ability to control its allies has declined. Bilateral relations have deteriorated. Attempts to block construction have failed. America has become a shadow of its former self.

China and United States should distinguish between strategic competition and a struggle for supremacy, as doing so would help avoid stepping over a boundary line beyond which competition turns into a drive for hegemony and world domination.

The narrative on China’s influence is polarizing and provocative - is it based on fact or fiction?

International politics in this century won’t be a simple story of U.S. decline and China’s rise to become a new global hegemon. That describes the history of past centuries, but it’s an obsolete concept today.

The duo can team up against the U.S. power advantage, but they need to know their limitations.