这场一度被取消、现已重启并定于北京5月14日至15日举行的峰会，为中美元首提供了修复关系的窗口。文章强调，两国上一次在2025年10月于韩国会晤仅出现轻微降温且未有突破，而目前全球已生效的双边投资协定(BIT)超过2200项，美国有40项、中国有110项，均居前列，中国比美国多约2.75倍；更重要的是，2016年末中美BIT谈判被称已完成逾90%，但在2016年11月大选后终止，后续行政时期未恢复。

自20世纪80年代里根时代起，美国就已把BIT当作与贸易投资伙伴博弈的工具，并在40项现行协定中加入大量定制条款以兼顾国别需求。中美在此次重启中可照搬这一做法：美国可继续推动透明许可、知识产权保护、劳工标准和国企补贴合规，反过来也可把美国对产业政策和国家安全投资控制的担忧写入，形成更均衡的规则框架。

文章指出，排除性清单反而可能成为推动双边投资协定推进的机制，而非纯粹障碍；中国保留国防、稀土、遗传学、核能和教育等负面清单，美国则通过CFIUS与扩展后的实体清单限制相关企业及其在先进半导体、AI、生物技术、敏感通信等领域的准入。2015至2016年谈判的最后受阻点正是这类清单，但若把它们作为分阶段削减的起点，BIT可演化为动态协议。

This long-delayed summit is back after one cancellation and is now set for May 14–15 in Beijing, giving the two leaders a chance to repair relations after their October 2025 Seoul meeting only slightly eased tensions without breakthrough. Globally, more than 2,200 bilateral investment treaties are in force, with the U.S. having 40 and China 110—the latter about 2.75 times more—and talks on a U.S.-China BIT were reportedly over 90% complete by late 2016 before being halted after the November 2016 election and never resumed.

Since the Reagan-era 1980s, the U.S. has used BITs as a negotiation instrument, embedding country-specific clauses across 40 operational treaties to protect interests while opening markets. The article argues that both sides can apply the same template now by addressing licensing transparency, intellectual-property protection, labor standards, and state-subsidy issues, while using negative/targeted lists as a starting point instead of a deadlock.

The strongest near-term reform discussed is removing ownership caps on direct investment to reduce dependence on joint ventures that often force technology transfer; this is especially important for advanced semiconductors, the core AI battleground. U.S. approval is politically hard because a full BIT needs two-thirds Senate support, so the proposal is to use a congressional-executive agreement like NAFTA/USMCA (simple majorities in both chambers), and resuming BIT talks is framed as a practical first step to make the Beijing summit a concrete pro-growth milestone rather than a symbolic placeholder.

Source: The pact that could help America and China repair relations

Subtitle: A bilateral investment treaty is a way to find middle ground on sensitive sectors, write Max Baucus and Stephen Roach

Dateline: 5月 07, 2026 06:28 上午