Wu Xinbo," China-U.S. Strategic Competition under the Biden Administration,"
China International Studies , No.2, 2021
【Abstract】Inheriting the Trump administration’s perception of China as the primary strategic competitor of the US, competition remains the core concept of the Biden administration’s thinking of China, the main principle of US policy-making on China, and the fundamental logic of managing China-US relations. However, there are differences between the two administrations in terms of approaches. The Biden administration attaches greater importance to improving America’s competitiveness and adheres to the path of “smart competition” by taking advantage of the alliance system and multilateral institutions, while being open to necessary cooperation with China. Nonetheless, the strategic competition against China by the Biden administration is subject to both domestic and external constraints. In the new situation, China will properly handle the competition and more actively shape the increasingly competitive bilateral relations. In the coming four years, there are three potential scenarios of China-US relations, respectively featuring competition plus cooperation, dominated by rivalry, and rife with conflicts. The two countries shall avoid conflicts, ensure interaction led by positive competition, and jointly seek for a relationship characterized by both competition and cooperation.

【Keywords】The Biden administration, China-U.S. relations, strategic competition

【Author】 Professor Wu Xinbo, Director of the Center for American Studies and Dean of the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University