There’s no evidence indicating that U.S.-China relations will turn for the better simply because Biden takes over the presidency. But the opposite is true as well: There is no reason to pass up an opportunity to ease tensions and strive for a reset.

U.S. President Donald Trump has suffered a decisive loss in his trade war with China. It is now in the interest of both countries to speedily resume trade and investment cooperation, cooperate to end the COVID-19 threat and implement the Paris climate accord.

A strong framework needs to be built in which China and the United States can operate together with little ambiguity. The two countries are currently positioned to benefit the world, if only they are willing to seize the moment.

China and the United States have patched things up before, but this time it’s going to be more difficult. The necessity of doing so, however, remains. Neither country can afford instability, much less war.

Over a century ago, tangled alliances in Europe were tested with the onset of the First World War. Today, the converging interests of Asia’s middle powers, U.S. regional allies, and China in the South China Sea threaten to provide the world a redux.

The steady style of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden is a sharp contrast with that of the erratic Donald Trump, and so it’s likely that windows of opportunity will open in China-U.S. relations. Exactly how and in what fields improvement will come is anyone’s guess during the transition period.

The incoming Biden administration in the United States is unlikely to bring wholesale change to China-U.S. relations, especially in the realm of sci-tech. While some frictions will ease, Biden will attempt to patch up relations with America’s European allies to constrain China.

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has a wealth of political experience, unlike Donald Trump. A gradual return to more normal China-U.S. relations can be expected. But some aspects of Trumpism are likely to remain for some time.

China-U.S. relations will likely remain strained under incoming President Joe Biden though the style and some of the substance will change. While defending U.S. security partners in Asia and seeking change in many PRC economic policies, the new team seems interested in exploring opportunities for cooperating on public health, nonproliferation, and especially climate change, under John Kerry, the first U.S. special presidential envoy for climate.