A recent ruling by Beijing's intellectual property office ruled that US tech giant Apple lost in a patent dispute, which may lead to a halt in sales of its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models in the Chinese mainland anymore. Apple, a market leader in smartphone sales in China, has come up against a couple of patent lawsuits recently, and lost. This time, Baili, a little-known startup based in Shenzhen, took the giant down by accusing Apple of violating its patent covering smartphone design.

Although Apple said the injunction has been stayed pending appeal and sales remain unaffected, online discussions have gone viral. A lot of netizens, after comparing the iPhone model with Baili's 100C smartphone, argued that their designs are substantially different. But there are also netizens associating this case with the mounting US efforts to challenge Chinese companies. They believe Apple's loss in the patent case is perhaps a Chinese countermeasure.

Given the recent development of China-US trade, discord seems heightened lately. More trade spats are boiling over. These include the US government imposing punitive duties on some Chinese steel imports, and keeping up rigid limitations against Chinese high-tech companies such as Huawei and ZTE entering the US market. Meanwhile, senior US officials complained recently that China is building up more barriers against foreign companies.

In the past decades, market access and reciprocity have driven both countries to raise trade volume and business cooperation into the world's largest, and this bilateral economic relationship is essential to the stability and revival of the global economy.

Unfortunately, mutual distrust, triggered by the increase of strategic rivalry between both countries, is hurting the hard-earned Sino-US business ties. As competition increases in the political and security spheres, a sense of wariness has penetrated into spheres of business and trade. The US is putting more effort into finding fault with Chinese imports and companies to contain China's growing presence. It was the most inclusive market, but is shifting to be worryingly overcautious.

However, it is not time for China and the US to engage in an exchange of protectionism. They are at a crucial stage of their bilateral relations. As their rivalry is being underscored in political, diplomatic and security aspects, a solid economic relationship can help navigate these issues and keep risks under control.

The global economy needs stable and prospering Sino-US economic ties more than ever. In the current unstable situation, both sides should stick to the law and render justice to boost confidence and reduce distrust in each other.