Lurking in the background of the imminent US-China strategic dialogue are concerns about what role, if any, the world's second-largest economy will play in the Trans-Pacific Partnership and how the that trade grouping will compete with or complement the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. Getting the details of these mega-regional trade deals wrong could seriously damage Asia's regional economic infrastructure – a point which is often overlooked. Preventing this will require both China and the US to take more active positions.

In China, many view the TPP with suspicion, charging that it is part of a deliberate containment strategy by the US. But western policy makers describe the deal as a 21st-century, high standard agreement that will benefit the global economy, and further US strategic interests in the Asia-Pacific.