Though their G20 Osaka summit meeting made headlines for its positive signals, President Xi and President Trump still must address three key areas for policy coordination: mitigating the global impact of financial innovation, balancing their scientific and technological cooperation with their respective national security concerns, and addressing the trend towards weaponizing trade and international finance.

Many observers believe the US has already begun a new cold war via comprehensive containment of China. But in recent decades, US elites have debated back and forth on the positive or negative implications of Chinese power. Today’s tensions are serious, but not unprecedented.

The US-China trade truce is welcome news, but far from a resolution. To overcome the various uncertainties and structural challenges within the US-China relationship, we should turn this truce to a longer-term effort to restore trust, normal economic relations, and a strengthening of multilateralism.

The stark present of Sino-US distrust is a far cry from the nostalgic past of China-US cooperation since the Nixon era. Nonetheless, China’s deepening domestic reforms and revised strategic outlook bode well for the future — but will the US get the message?

Amid trade war and perceived China-US disagreement, silver linings are often ignored. But outside of Washington and Beijing, Sino-US cooperation is thriving at the local and private level, while China’s commitment to reform provides a stable foundation for the bilateral relationship.

The trade war is only the latest twist in a tangled China-US relationship. For the two sides to find common ground, the US must accept China’s rise to superpower status on an equal footing, and China should acknowledge the post-World War II order that the US built.

Whining about China and starting a unilateral trade war is not a winning strategy. If China stumbles, the world will tumble.

Trump’s belligerent style in waging the trade war overlooks China’s history of stiff resistance against stronger foes. The US-China relationship is the world’s most important, and if we don’t get it right, the chances of a violent outcome increase significantly.