Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on Global Issues

I think that climate cooperation between China and the United States was at its best during President Obama's tenure. The cooperation between China and the United States, as well as the consensus and support gained during this time had a huge impact on the world. Together, we made the Paris Climate Conference a huge success, and reached the Paris Agreement. Although President Trump decided to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, the success of the Paris Conference is still the most significant result of U.S.-China climate cooperation with a lasting impact on the whole world. And, while climate cooperation between China and the United States has come to a freeze at the national level, the cooperation between China and United States is still effectively moving forward at the local government level as well as in society and at academic and research institutions. This bottom-up structure of cooperation is crucial. U.S.-China climate cooperation during the Obama administration was top-down and reached the landmark Paris Agreement. In that sense, it is true that top-down collaboration is on hold during the Trump era but we are glad that the bottom-up cooperation is still going strong without any major setback.