Analysis of Sino-US relations: From the perspective of building a new model of major-country relations

China’s rise has incrementally changed the international order into a bipolar structure, which is bound to undermine the liberal democratic order dominated by the United States since World War II. In response to this, the United States has launched numerous actions in an attempt to counter China’s rising ambition, thus setting the tone for the Sino-US relations as a great power rivalry in the decades to come. In this context, Chinese President Xi Jinping first proposed a “new model of China-US major country relations” in 2012, so as to avoid another cold war and most importantly to ensure an international order for world peace and common development. However, the United States did not react positively toward this concept. The cognitive divergence is unavoidable on both sides, thus leading to an on-going strategic rivalry. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct in-depth research on the essence for the cognitive divergence and each strategic intention behind it to avoid direct confrontation.