MK sports director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University. Photo: GT" src="https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2024/2024-12-14/820faee0-9cc3-4ab4-a109-670f4ae5d20d.png" />

Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University. Photo: GT

The Global Times Annual Conference 2025, themed "Moving forward in Partnership: Resonance of Values between China and the World," is held in Beijing on Saturday. In the first session, experts and scholars engaged in discussions on the topic "Exploring the path of great power relations: differences and consensus."

Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, said that there are three key points to watch in major power relations next year. First, China and the US will enter a new round of competition. While the strategic challenges are severe, there are some tactical opportunities. Second, in terms of ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict, US-Russia relations will undergo some loosening and adjustments. Third, China's relations with other major powers will face new opportunities, and the overall diplomatic environment facing China will see significant improvements.

Regarding China-US relations, Wu emphasized that the development of the relationship follows its own historical logic. At certain stages, cooperation between the two countries was more prominent, driven by the balance of power and mutual interests. Currently, China and the US have entered what the US terms a "strategic competition" phase, which, in reality, is a period of US' efforts to contain and suppress China. While this phase is not what we hope for, it is, in some sense, consistent with the logic of great power relations.

In Wu's view, whether under a Democratic or Republican administration, US' basic positioning toward China and the fundamental design of its China policy will not change in the short term. However, from a longer-term perspective, the strategic competition between China and the US shows periodical characteristics. Wu noted that in the future, the US may realize that its efforts to contain and suppress China have not been effective, and that the cost to its own interests is too high and unsustainable, stressing that in that case, the US policy toward China will likely be adjusted.

Global Times