The art of the deal 2.0: why pragmatism is defining the new US-China trade order

THE red carpet laid out at Beijing Capital International Airport for US President Donald Trump on May 14 carried a weight far heavier than mere diplomatic protocol.

As Trump stepped onto Chinese soil for the first time in nearly a decade, the global community watched a fundamentally different kind of statecraft unfold.

In years past, the US’ objective at such summits was to try to transform China’s state-led economic system – a grand, often ideological battle to rewrite the rules of global trade.