Today’s trade disputes epitomize a new stage of the globalization process. More and more countries are employing trade sanctions and customs duties for the purpose of national security. As globalization moves from integration to fragmentation and as competition becomes more intense and friction more frequent, open markets will become increasingly rare.

Drawing upon the past 70 years of Chinese global engagement, Vice-Minister He shines light on how multilateralism has benefited the Chinese nation as well as how China has played an important role — and can continue to play such a role — in the success of this ideology across the world. With the chaos brought by the new US regime and the rise of global populism, He emphasizes the need for China as an emerging power to support and help maintain multilateralism domestically and internationally.

US President Donald Trump has been accused of weaponizing economic globalization. Sanctions, tariffs, and the restriction of access to dollars have been major instruments of his foreign policy, and he has been unconstrained by allies, institutions, or rules in using them.

In updating its Foreign Investment Law, Beijing makes clear its continued commitment to improving China’s business environment. Indeed, China is pushing back on the global trend of “deglobalization.” Nonetheless, Beijing must take into account new US restrictions based on national security.

In a global economy marked by constant technological change, innovation drives growth—thus, the prospect of Sino-US “tech decoupling” would harm both countries’ ability to learn from the other.

Centuries of Western dominance are now fading as developing countries emerge onto the world stage. Despite military and fiscal crises, major powers have great opportunities. They must seize this moment of flux to build upon the accomplishments of the past 100 years, to reform global governance and the rules-based international system, rather than letting impulsive unilateralism lead them to miss the chance for win-win cooperation.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is putting forward an alternative vision of global economic development to help developing countries escape poverty, and help developed countries head off inequality and populist challenges. But the US seems poised to squander its chance to participate and thereby shape this future of infrastructure, inclusivity, and innovation.

Wu Xinbo talks history and globalization.

Given the U.S. has identified China as a main rivalry, the two nations can still cooperate. But it is unrealistic to expect China to make concessions and “take a hit.”