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.

After waiting for the political dust to settle following the U.S. election, President Xi Jinping congratulated President-elect Joe Biden and revealed key expectations about China-U.S. relations going forward.

As the U.S. attempts to divide Chinese society, its suppression of industry, verbal attacks and ideological stigmatization all point at painful, challenging conundrums in China’s development and reforms.

Devising an effective strategy to compete, cooperate, and co-exist with China will be one of US President-elect Joe Biden’s toughest foreign-policy challenges. And over the next two months, Sino-American relations are almost certain to get worse.

“Chimerica” is not workable. At the end of the day, China and the United States need to strengthen trust and cooperation incrementally while upholding multilateralism and eliminating conventional and nonconventional threats.

It is possible to move forward if a framework is agreed up for solving matters where competition is inevitable. The incoming Biden administration in the United States has an opportunity.

It’s no surprise that China-U.S. relations have had their ups and downs, as there are always differences between countries. But while all-around consensus may be elusive, they can always find some common ground. Opportunities abound.