The United States and China are the world’s two largest economies. Over the coming decades, no two countries will have a greater impact on the global economic order—the system of institutions, rules, and norms that govern international economic affairs. A global economy that delivers strong, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive growth will depend on such a well-managed order. More than ever before, Washington and Beijing must work together to identify potential areas of cooperation, as well as manage our differences.

It is this collaborative mission that has inspired the deep and productive relationship between our two institutions, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS), for many years. Since 2015, we have cohosted the U.S.-China Dialogue on the Global Economic Order, a track 1.5 dialogue that has sought to build mutual trust, enhance communication, identify issues, and propose solutions. The series of semiannual workshops, alternating between Beijing and Washington, has covered a wide range of topics across the global economic order including trade, investment, finance, and climate change. The dialogue has drawn scholars, former policymakers, and current officials from the United States and China across a wide range of institutions and disciplines.

This essay collection harvests some of the rich bounty of our two-year dialogue. Scholars from the United States and China have contributed parallel essays presenting their respective positions on a wide variety of topics in the global economic order. We hope that this collection will generate new ideas that scholars, policymakers, and citizens in both countries can use to solve the most urgent problems in the global economy.