【双语社评】中美贸易战停战是两国共同胜利

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China and the United States issued a joint statement on Saturday, vowing to take effective measures to substantially reduce the trade deficit between the two nations. According to the statement, China agreed to greatly increase its purchase of US goods and services to meet the growing demands of Chinese consumers and promote high-quality economic development. This will also create benefits for the US' economy and job market.

中美两国经贸磋商代表团19日发表联合声明，宣布两国同意采取有效措施实质性减少美对华货物贸易逆差。声明说，为满足中国人民不断增长的消费需求和促进高质量经济发展，中方将大量增加自美购买商品和服务，这也有助于美国经济增长和就业。

The two nations agreed to increase the export of US agriculture and energy products. They also reached a consensus to create favorable conditions for expanding trade on manufactured goods and services. The statement said that both sides placed high value on intellectual property protection and agreed to promote cooperation in this regard. 

双方同意有意义地增加美国农产品和能源出口，还就扩大制造业产品和服务贸易进行了讨论并达成共识。中美还就知识产权保护、鼓励双向投资等达成共识。双方同意继续就此保持高层沟通。

Trade between the two countries has continued to grow since China launched its reform and opening-up policy, allowing it to become the largest bilateral trader of goods in the world. In recent years, both nation's service trade markets have shown substantial growth. However, China's surplus of trade goods with the US has gradually expanded due to several factors, making it the world's largest trade surplus.

自中国改革开放以来，中美贸易持续保持增长势头，迄今扩大为世界上规模最大的双边货物贸易。最近几年，两国服务贸易也呈现激增之势。然而由于多种原因，中国对美货物贸易顺差逐渐扩大，形成了当今世界第一大贸易顺差。

According to China's statistics, China's merchandise trade surplus with the US reached $275.8 billion in 2017 while US statistics showed that the US trade deficit with China was as high as $375.2 billion in 2017 - which makes up about half of the US global trade deficit. It is difficult to maintain such an unbalanced bilateral trade system. The US-China trade deficit has continued to expand, despite China working to reduce this number for many years. The deficit increased by more than $20 billion from 2016 to 2017.

中方统计显示，2017年我国对美货物贸易顺差达到2758亿美元，美方的统计则认为其2017年对华货物贸易逆差高达3752亿美元，大约为美国对全球货物贸易逆差的一半。失衡度如此高的双边贸易确实难以持续，美方长期以来要求中方采取措施减少美方对华贸易逆差，中国也付出了努力，但实际情形是美国对华贸易逆差继续扩大，2017年又比前一年增长了200多亿美元。

The US is currently experiencing strained relations with its trade partners around the world, especially with China. Early this year, the US unilaterally imposed import tariffs on steel and aluminum products. China took counter measures in response to such US polices. The battle has severely impacted the overall bilateral relationship between the two nations and sent shockwaves throughout the global market.

美国今年以来与全球贸易关系出现紧张，中美贸易首当其冲。今年3月以来，美国单方面加征钢铝产品进口关税，中国对其涉及中国产品的部分采取了坚决回应行动，中美贸易战就此打响了严重冲击两国全面关系、并且搅动了全球市场的前哨战。

China and the US have gone through three rounds of consultations so far, starting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He's trip to the US in February, the US delegation team's visit to China in early May, and the vice premier's most recent US visit last week. These consultations allowed the world's two largest economies to consult with each other to analyze, define, and resolve the issues of their current trade mechanisms to provide long-term operation.

从2月底刘鹤访美到5月初美国代表团赴华磋商，再到本次刘鹤率团再度访美，中美共进行了3轮磋商。回头看，这是世界第一大和第二大经济体对现行贸易机制长期运行积累下来的问题进行联合剖析、定义，并加以解决的尝试。

Economic and trade cooperation has always played the role of ballast and propeller in China-US relations. However, the recent economic and trade issues have continued to be one of the major challenges for maintaining a good and comprehensive relationship between the two countries. It is imperative to resolve these issues. If the two countries work together to keep trade relations stable, then the China-US bilateral relationship will be much stronger, and both sides can benefit from this win-win cooperation system.

　经贸合作一直是中美关系的推进器和压舱石，但是一段时间以来，经贸问题却不断成为中美保持良好全面关系的主要挑战之一，从根本上解决这个问题势在必行。经贸关系平稳了，中美的利益纽带就会更牢固，你中有我、我中有你的格局就会成为稳定构架，互利共赢也将落到实处。

However, this appears to be a historic period of difficult adjustment, since both nations fought fiercely for their own country's interests. In the past two and a half months, the situation was close to reaching disastrous conditions. Even until the very last moment before the final agreement was made, both countries did not give up, kept their determination, and stood firm in their resolve.

然而人们看到，由于中美的政策都以自己的国家利益为本位，这样的历史性磨合是十分艰难的。在过去的两个多月里，中美贸易战呈现烽烟四起之势，直到达成协议、握手言和前的最后时刻，双方都没有放弃决不向对方让步的意志展示。

Many may have noticed the words "to substantially decrease the US trade deficit in goods with China" in the joint statement. This might lead some to think that the US has won the trade talks.

　　在中美发表的联合声明中，人们普遍注意到“实质性减少美对华货物贸易逆差”的表述，一些人认为这意味着“美国赢了”。

However, the focus of the China-US economic and trade consultations was meant to discuss how China will expand its imports from the US because the large deficit reflects the imbalance between the two nation's trade systems. The main direction of the consultation is to promote and balance China-US trade.

　　然而不用说，中美经贸磋商中心议题肯定是商量中方如何扩大从美国的进口，因为中美贸易不平衡的突出表现是美国贸易逆差太大了。促进中美贸易平衡，这是主要方向。

Now, both nations need to figure out how to achieve this balance. Washington hopes to maximize the interests of the US in this process, while China insists that the expansion of US imports must meet the urgent needs of its country's economic and social development. The US wants China to help reduce its trade deficit in a planned economic way. China persists that the goal must be achieved through marketization to create a trade balance. China believes that in order to reduce the US trade deficit, the US should further open its domestic market to Chinese buyers. US products must meet the expectations of the Chinese market to stimulate China's purchasing activities. This is the key point behind the trade dispute between China and the US.

最关键的是如何实现这一平衡。华盛顿希望这个平衡过程中实现美方利益的最大化，而中国则坚持扩大进口美国商品必须最大限度地契合中国经济社会发展的紧迫需求。美方希望中国政府以计划经济的方式推动减少美国逆差，中方则坚持这必须是一个市场化贸易平衡的过程，减少美国贸易逆差不仅中方要多买，美方还需积极配合，让中国民间的进口机构有的买，并且在中国市场上卖得出。这是双方博弈的真正焦点。

From this perspective, the agreement signed by China and the US today has followed the win-win principle. The US will have the opportunity to reduce its trade deficit with China, while China will achieve the consistent purchase of US goods to benefit the development of the country and its people's life. The US has promised to break its control of energy exports to China, which will diversify China's energy import channels. The US will sell more agricultural products to China, which is the equivalent to "exporting" agricultural nature and technologies to China.

从这个角度看，这次中美签署的协议遵循了两国双赢的原则。美方将获得大幅减少贸易逆差的机会，中国将实现有助于国家发展和人民美好生活所需产品从美方的稳定购买。美打破以往管制向中国出口能源产品将使中国的能源进口渠道更加多元，美国向中国出售更多农产品，等于是向中国出口农业的自然和技术条件，等等。

From a macro perspective, trade balance is one of the key factors for continuous development of globalization. Each negotiation held by the two countries will push the situation to a better position. The promotion of fair trade principles is an irresistible trend. No positive outcome can be achieved without fairness.

从宏观上看，贸易平衡是全球化不断发展的条件之一，中美每一次谈判都会把两国贸易朝着平衡的方向推一推。朝着公平原则的不断靠近恐怕是唯一趋势，因为如果是相反的情况，即使谈成了，也执行不下去。

For example, if China agreed to help the US reduce its trade deficit, but the US could not provide products to meet the needs of China's markets and consumers, the agreement signed by both countries would be worthless. All trade agreements have to be executable and feasible, rather than irrational. This has been a fundamental rule before the two nations started their negotiations, and it will remain the same in the future.

比如中国答应了帮美国实质性减少逆差，但如果美方就是提供不了中国市场需要的产品，中国消费者不认账，那么双方商定什么减赤数字都将是一纸空文。任何贸易协定都必须是能够执行的，不能是计划式的强买强卖，这一基本规则在中美这次谈判之前如此，今后也不可能改变。

As one of the largest trade surplus countries in the world, China has learned from this dispute with the US, and will improve its understanding of international trade. It is also a good opportunity for all Chinese citizens to review their country's power from a new perspective. 

中国作为世界最大贸易顺差国之一，这场中美贸易交锋让我们对国际贸易的延伸含义有了更多了解，我们对国家实力的认识也有了更多素材和新的维度。

China must continue to expand its market capacity and enhance the country's irreplaceability in global production and supply chains. It is time for Chinese citizens to see that if China wants to become a modern power in the world, there is a lot of work to do.

中国必须继续扩大本国的市场容量，我们还需增加自己在全球生产及供应链上的不可替代性。我们更加清楚了，为崛起为现代化强国，我们还有大量事情要做。

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