Rising incomes, limited farmland, and polluted water and soil has prompted China to look overseas for agriculture imports. Over the last decade, the United States has been China’s top agricultural partner and this relationship looks likely to continue and indeed strengthen.

When it comes to economic rebalancing, China will need to be patient, recognizing that the current generation is simply too fixated on saving to provide the kind of surge in consumption that is needed. There are steps policymakers can take to accelerate progress, but, until the next generation grows up, real progress will have to wait.

The SCO emerged as a convenient platform for the Central Asian leadership to preserve domestic status quo by accommodating the ambitions of both Moscow and Beijing within one framework. However, the SCO fails to project itself as an effective regional organization, and is perceived more so as a discussion forum.

Fluctuations in China’s currency and economy don’t have the wild effect on the global markets that many critics allege, and such accusations distract from a needed collective focus on maintaining stability.

Corruption, however, while a persistent illness with a debilitating and self-generating momentum, is not exclusive to China. If truth be told, China’s largesse abroad is also a major source of corruption and fraud, especially when it involves government-to-government transactions where transparency and accountability are absent.

Beijing’s air pollution – and the stark contrast between how the rich and poor are able to respond to the problem, is a theme of developing economics. To address the current structural imbalance Barbier suggests tackling the twin problems of excessive environmental degradation and insufficient human capital, which he calls a “Balanced Wealth Strategy.”

The free-trade deal seems more firmly rooted in politics than economics, lacking both fairness and transparency, and that doesn’t bode well for a harmonious world order.

For those who oppose the TPP, much as been made of the secret nature in which the treaty was negotiated. Walker Rowe summarizes some major sectors that will be affect by the treaty, and thus trying to influence a rather fractured and unpopular trade agreement.

While the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership has potential to split Asia Pacific, it could be used as a foundation for truly free trade, along with other free trade plans in the region.

Their economies have never been more interdependent, and many global and regional key issues hinge on their collaboration. Simply put, the two powers just cannot afford to head into a zero-sum game due to their increasing convergence of interests.