Imported soybeans seen at a port in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu Province in August, 2018. Photo: IC

China-US economic and trade exchanges represent the ballast stone for bilateral ties because they involve more superstructures and actions, a former Chinese official said on Saturday.

Though the US-initiated trade war with China is at the core of the strife, the real problem is not merely the issue of trade - it is strategic competition, He Weiwen, who previously served as a commercial counselor at the Chinese consulates in New York and San Francisco, said when speaking at the Global Times annual forum.

The trade war between China and the US is now entering the 18th month. China and the US have agreed on the text of a phase one deal. As part of the deal, Washington has committed to roll back some tariffs and Beijing will increase its purchases of US products, based on market demand. 

He said that the process, which has endured ups and downs, is difficult. But He cautioned that despite a phase one trade deal, the Chinese side should not be overly optimistic. 

The Trump administration will continue to wield its "big stick" and coerce China, so the strategy of the US bullying China will not changes, He noted.

The US political narrative is filled with unpredictable factors in the run-up to the US presidential election in 2020. He said that as the US political structure is defective, be it Democrats or Republicans, anyone who wants to win an election will choose to coerce China. "So we must not have illusions about the US."

But the two countries have room for on cooperation. The Trump administration has realized that maintaining talks with China is necessary because problems can't be solved by suppression, and there is a need for negotiations, according to He.

"We need to notice that though there are conflicts between China and the US, there's also cooperation. We are not afraid of fighting," He said.

The interconnected and close global industrial supply chain is the foundation of China-US cooperation. The so-called calls for economic decoupling come from political purposes, He said.

"Therefore, we should respond to the concerns of the business community and its reasonable needs. That's why we have to continuously pursue reform and opening-up, create a fair and peaceful competitive environment, and realize the sustainable development of China-US economic and trade relations," according to He.

China-US economic and trade ties will still face tough conflicts and bilateral trade volume in 2020 is likely to exceed that of 2019, He said.

In the first 11 months of 2019, China's trade with the US dropped 11.1 percent year-on-year to 3.4 trillion yuan ($483 billion), customs data showed. Specifically, China's exports to the US fells 8.4 percent while imports from the US plunged 19.5 percent.