US-China seeking to mend ties?During the unannounced visit of Former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger to China, Chinese President Xi Jinping said:“We never for

During the unannounced visit of Former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger to China, Chinese President Xi Jinping 

“We never forget our old friends, and will never forget your historic contribution to the development of China-US relations and the enhancement of friendship between the two peoples,”

The former US Secretary of State had played an important role in the

 in the 1970’s between Washington and Beijing.

 overlapped with that of John Kerry (US Climate envoy) and was preceded by visits of Janet Yellen (US Secretary of Treasury) and Anthony Blinken (US Secretary of State).

In recent months, both the US and China have been seeking to give the impression that they want to reduce tensions between both countries. While in the aftermath of the downward slope in bilateral relations, there was increasing talk of US seeking to ‘de-couple’ from China, senior US officials have clarified that while the US is seeking to diversify supply chains, it does not seek to 

While according to many commentators, ‘de-risking’ is essentially a milder expression for ‘de-coupling’, according to others the former is less drastic and does seek to leave the door open for Washington to engage economically with China and explore common ground in other areas.

It would be pertinent to mention here that French President 

Immanuel Macron had also visited China along with European Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen in April 2023.

 While the EU Commission Chief clearly batted for a tougher stance vis-à-vis China, advocating 

, Macron had followed a more reconciliatory tone – with an eye on France’s economic interests.

US Secretary of Treasury, Janet Yellen who followed up her China visit with a visit to Vietnam 

 stated that while Washington was keen to diversify its economic relations, it wanted to keep a manageable economic relationship with China. US officials have also been speaking about the need for competing while ‘co-existing’ and finding common ground in certain areas – especially climate change.

Apart from official engagement, Beijing has also been trying to woo foreign investors. Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Bill Gates last month. The Chinese President said that Gates was the first 

 he had met this year in Beijing, and also referred to the importance of people-to-people linkages in strengthening the bilateral relationship

Chinese Premier Li Qiang while speaking addressing the China Development Forum in March 2023 categorically said that China would ‘unswervingly’ remain committed to the 

 of its economy and sustainable free-market policies, he and many other senior Chinese officials, have also been critical of attempts by the west to 

 China. Even ASEAN countries like Malaysia and Singapore have batted against such attempts. Malaysian PM, Anwar Ibrahim while speaking at the Boao Forum 2023 (also referred to as “Davos of Asia”) 

“We need to establish certain guardrails so that the competition does not lead to a bifurcation in the technological world, one that will only raise costs and impede further progress,”

China is also trying to promote an event -- China International Supply Chain Expo -- that will take place in Beijing later this year (November 28).

One of the reasons cited for China’s attempts to reduce tensions with the west are the fact that strains with the west in general, and the US in particular,  are taking a clear toll on its economy. A strong reiteration of this point is that FDI to China for the period 

 witnessed a year-on-year dip of over 2% according to figures from China’s Ministry of Commerce.

 clearly underscore the fact that companies are keen to shift from mainland China. In the aftermath of the pandemic, especially the stringent lockdown imposed in 2022, several western companies had stated that they would explore the possibility of moving from China (companies like Apple have already begun to expand operations in 

 Apart from severe covid restrictions the key factors which are propelling many western investors to move from China are the uncertain relations between the west and China, as well as the uncertainty in economic policies under the leadership of current President Xi Jinping. Recent 

 which point to a slowdown have also not done any favours to the overall sentiment amongst foreign investors vis-à-vis China. While the west may be keen to keep a manageable relationship with Beijing, and China may be trying to woo foreign investors any significant improvement in economic ties is highly unlikely given the domestic politics of China as well as western countries, especially US, and the overall global situation. While European nations may have adopted a relatively softer approach vis-à-vis China, they are also likely to focus on diversification of supply chains and reduction of dependence upon Beijing.

US economic approach vis-a-vis China: Is "de-risking" really different from "de-coupling" ?

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