China-US Climate Cooperation: Creating a New Model of Major-Country Relations?

Building “a new model of major-country relations,” particularly with the United States, has become one of China’s major foreign policy objectives. Yet, outside of China, the concept is often seen as an empty slogan with no practical utility. By examining both the concept of the new model of major-country relations (NMMCR) and China’s climate cooperation with the United States, I argue that the concept and initiative of NMMCR—with its emphasis on a common fate and shared futures, viewed as a means of achieving cooperation rather than conflict to achieve common goals— reflects well the changing environment of the twenty-first century and is thus a positive new development in China’s foreign policy.