But as President Hu Jintao said during his visit to the U.S., China-U.S. ties should be cooperative, not a zero-sum game. The China-U.S. Joint Statement released in January this year also pointed out that the two countries are actively cooperating on a wide range of security, economic, social, energy and environmental issues. From a global perspective, we can see the great significance of China and the U.S. building cooperation partnership.

China Today: President Hu Jintao made a state visit to the U.S., which has laid down a foundation for the third round of the S&ED. What impact did the visit make in your view?

Jia Xiudong: It was very good timing. This year sees the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between us, the middle of Obama's presidency, and the beginning of China's 12th Five-year Plan period (2011-2015). The visit set the direction for the ties between the U.S., the world's biggest developed country, and a burgeoning China. The two sides will make joint efforts to build mutual respect, create mutual benefits and a win-win partnership. This already reflects the fruitfulness of willingness to cooperate.

China Today: China's GDP in 2010 was valued at nearly RMB 40 trillion, roughly 40 percent of that of the U.S. Currently China holds huge U.S. dollar-denominated assets, an indication that the two nations' economies are bound together, but if the U.S. dollar weakens the decline will result in a loss of wealth for China. How do you view this problem?

Jia Xiudong: As the second-largest economy in the world China is increasingly integrated into the global economy. During the process of globalization, countries will certainly affect one another. Economic or political disaster in a big country will surely trigger problems for other countries. Look at how the Wall Street crisis affected China's economy.

It is precisely because policies adopted by one country might affect other countries that the economic stimulus plans to deal with the financial crisis were decided after discussions among the G20 countries. Therefore, when the United States makes decisions on its monetary policy, it should consider how such a policy might affect other countries.

Globalization has thickened the interconnectedness of the Chinese and American economies and that interdependence is unlikely to go away: Sino-American economic relations have never been as close as they are today. Each country is the other's second-largest trade partner: just after diplomatic relations were established in 1979 the trade volume amounted to US $2.5 billion, and it has now increased 150-fold to reach US $385 billion. Moreover, China has been the U.S.'s fastest growing export market for nine years running. The figures show that the two sides should pull together, not rock the boat.

China Today: President Obama named his Commerce Secretary, Gary Locke, to be the new U.S. Ambassador to China. What do you make of this appointment? Why did the White House tap the Commerce Secretary for the position? How do you think it will impact on our future relations?

Jia Xiudong: I think it reflects the importance with which the U.S. views its relations and communications with China. China has become the world's second-largest economy and has more say now in the international dialogue. We are already center stage and China-U.S. relations are of international rather than simply bilateral significance.

Gary Locke understands China pretty well and is well regarded at an official and non-official level. He has wide personal links in China and extensive influence in the U.S. government. The Obama administration values Mr. Locke's background and experience: he contributed much to the development of U.S.-China economic and trade relations during his time as Governor of Washington State and as Commerce Secretary. As ambassador, he is expected to further promote economic and trade relations between the two countries.

That said, even though Locke's Chinese ancestry will help people here relate to him, as an American sworn to serve his country, Mr. Locke will be sure to defend American interests. There have been U.S. ambassadors with military, political and legal backgrounds, some fluent in Chinese, others without a word of the language. China welcomed them all, as long as they acted as a bridge between us and promoted bilateral relationship.

China Today: Chinese enterprises are always encountering barriers to direct investment in the U.S. market. What is the reason, and how can the situation be improved?

Jia Xiudong: You are quite right. All of the 100 service sectors that the Chinese government promised to open up after WTO accession 10 years ago have attracted U.S. companies to invest. By the end of 2010, they had invested US $65 billion in 59,000 projects in China. At the same time, Chinese enterprises' investments in the U.S. also increased rapidly. By the end of November 2010, Chinese direct non-financial investment exceeded US $4.4 billion and the number of Chinese enterprises operating from the U.S. topped 1,300.

Some Chinese enterprises have encountered various difficulties with direct investment in the U.S. On one hand, lack of political trust at the governmental level caused it to treat normal trade as a strategic issue. American companies view Chinese investment with prejudice, hostility and suspicion – hence the lack of mutual understanding. The two countries need more communication. The Chinese government should conduct more dialogues with its U.S. counterpart, urging equal treatment for Chinese companies.

On the other hand, the Chinese companies are inexperienced on the public relations front, and their investment strategies are immature. They are relative novices in the rough and tumble market economy, not savvy enough about regulations and politics and insufficiently aware of risk. They should do their homework thoroughly and take a comprehensive approach.