When US first adopted its reform and opening-up policy in the late 1970s, Chinese people started to care about the US presidential election. In 1980, Chinese people realized the fact for the first time that the presidential race between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter and his Republican opponent Ronald Reagan on the other side of the Pacific had very strong bond with their own country. The election outcome had a concernful impact on Chinese future development.

From then on, the presidential election has been seriously concerned by Chinese people although who do not have a role in the political games.

In this year’s presidential contest, candidates Barack Obama and John McCain had no controversy on the issue of US foreign policy toward China, though this issue had been an outstanding one. However, these two candidates had much in common on this issue. Both of them planed to cooperate with China since they attached great importance to the role China played on major international and regional issues.

They held the same opinion that a stable Sino-US relationship is the basic interest of the United States, although they could not reach consensus on some specific aspects due to their different backgrounds and political preferences. Both the two candidates praised the current US policy on China adopted by the outgoing Bush administration and believe in the framework of this China strategy. It is believed that Obama will carry forward the positive aspects of the US policy toward China.

The 47-year-old Obama, who comes from the Democratic camp, has his own political preferences indeed. Concerning Sino-US relations, his previous stances on economic and trade issues will have an important influence.

Over the past years, the globalization and President Bush’s economic polices have brought some side effects to the lives of the American middle and lower classes, a main factor underlying their resentment toward the current political situation. For ordinary American voters, the political slogan of the passionate African origin American competitor has largely met their demands, which make Obama get more support.

For those interest groups whose profits have been influenced by the inflow of made-in-China goods, the Asian nation will naturally become a target. They pay more attention on Washington’s tough attitude on the exchange rate of China’s renminbi and its trade surplus with the US.

Trade protectionists have become popular among many Americans in the current context of the US economic slump. In the run-up to the presidential election, Obama focused on China around bilateral trade. During the final stage of the presidential race, he criticized China, citing its currency policy as the main reason for its galloping trade surplus with the US.

Obama’s victory should owe to wide range of support from the middle and lower-class American voters. Since the interests of these groups of people have always been safeguarded by the Democrat, it is very likely that Obama will give more pressure upon China on economic and trade issues. Meanwhile, because the Democrats still control the majority of US congressional seats, China trade bills, which have always been pushed by Democratic Congressional members, will possibly pass through the Congress.

However, the US still needs to cooperate with China as it is trying to get rid of the financial crisis. In this case, certain conditions for expanded Sino-US cooperation will be created. According to the previous cooperation and the reality, Obama’s US administration will fully realize where the US interests lie. It is expected that the China-US economic ties will developed continuously despite possible frictions.

An important feature between China and US in recent years has been that new issues have changed the bilateral ties. As a new leader, Obama pays special attention to the urgent challenges the world is facing. Therefore, Obama administration is expected to actively promote China-US coordination in several aspects.

Because of different stances and interests, it is difficult for China and the US to reach consensus on the shares of obligations and responsibilities in some areas. Although the two countries have started their cooperation in the new areas, it is still a new challenge for them to finalize a plan that is acceptable to both sides.

Owing to the expandness of the range of political agendas, China and the US will meet through both bilateral and multilateral platforms rather than bilateral exchanges only. Obama’s foreign policy will be characterized by multilateralism, as he is known for his preference to meet diplomatic goals through multilateral mechanisms, and has expressed his interest in forging new multilateral cooperation and dialogues.

We can foresee that, aside from world organizations including the United Nations, China and the US will remarkably increase exchanges on global issues and regional security through various international multilateral mechanisms.

This year’s US election has no particular worries for Chinese people, which shows that Chinese people are viewing the world in a more mature manner and the relationship between China and US are becoming more mature, too. It should be read as a positive sign for the stable development of bilateral relations that the Chinese are no longer so enthusiastic about the American presidential elections.

Are you interested in the business opportunities in China?

China is one of the world’s great growth markets and is likely to be for many years to come. Foreign companies often face difficulties in assessing Chinese market demand and enacting effective strategies because of the language barriers, culture differences, and high expense.

BPOVIA is the leading virtual assistant and Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) service provider in China. BPOVIA is the only virtual assistant company ever been nominated for the prestigious “Red Herring 100 Asia” Awards 2008. Combines international perspective with local know-how, BPOVIA can provide our clients China business development service and help our clients doing successful business in China.

Please visit http://www.BPOVIA.com/ for details about our service.

Popularity: 2% [?]

benefit, cooperation, election, reform, Sino-US