China, U.S. should upgrade bilateral economic cooperation: scholars

Some Chinese scholars are suggesting that it's unlikely to see a trade war between China and the United States. 

But meanwhile, they are also calling on both sides to work towards improving bilateral economic cooperation.

The remarks come amid growing trade protectionism in the United States, which has increased friction in the economic relationship between the two countries.

At a monthly economic talk held by the China Center for International Economic Exchanges in Beijing, experts said there are a number of reasons driving the increase in trade protectionism in the U.S.

Those reasons include the country's trade deficits, worries over China's growing influence, and growing economic nationalism and social polarization.

The scholars said that conflicts in some specific areas are inevitable, but that both sides should try to seek common ground.

"China can seek a U.S. partner when investing abroad, especially when investing in countries along the Belt and Road or in Latin American nations, so that the risks could be more controllable," said Jin Canrong, deputy head of the School of International Studies at Renmin University of China.

The volume of bilateral trade between China and the U.S. reached more than 580 billion U.S. dollars over the last 40 years.

Lyu Xiang, a researcher on U.S. studies at the China's Academy of Social Sciences, said that both sides should work to advance their economic cooperation, especially in such sectors as energy and infrastructure.

"Among the commercial documents, worth of 253.5 billion U.S. dollars, signed during U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to China, most of them are agreements of intent. The deals related to the energy sector are worth of 200 billion dollars, and include infrastructure construction in West Virginia and Alaska. In the future, I think China and the U.S. can consider more joint projects concerning energy or infrastructure, such as a port for exporting energy resources, which can be located at either Oregon or California, facing the Pacific Ocean," said Lyu.

Chen Wenling, a chief economist with the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said both countries should also consider resuming negotiations on the Bilateral Investment Treaty, or even try to sign a free trade agreement.

"According to research from the Peterson Institute for International Economics, if China and the U.S. successfully sign a free trade agreement, 500 billion dollars will be added into their current bilateral trade volume. Secondly, the two countries should also continue talks concerning the Bilateral Investment Treaty. They have reached several consensuses after 29 rounds of talks, and the final success is in sight," said Chen.