Fifty years after late US President Richard Nixon's historic visit to China in 1972, China-US trade has undergone tremendous change in volume, quality and structure.

The U.S. administration of President Joe Biden on Tuesday slammed China for having "distorted" global trade through its unfair economic practices, and vowed to work with allies and partners to confront moves that undermine market competition.

In a fresh sign that the US' at its wits end trying to rebuild economic clout in the Asia-Pacific region, something that has faded into invisibility since its withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in 2017, the Biden administration is purportedly ready to unveil a new economic strategy for the region, where a China-participating mega trade deal has been all the rage.

New data show that China effectively bought none of the additional $200 billion in goods it promised to as part of a 2020 trade deal.

The United States-China trade war started in 2018 and has never officially ended. So, which side has been “winning” it?

The ‘phase one’ trade deal between the United States and China entered into force on 14 February 2020. As part of this agreement, China agreed to make structural reforms, open up its financial services and strengthen intellectual property. China also pledged to buy at least US$200 billion in additional US goods and services over 2020 and 2021.

The US-initiated trade war against China further failed in 2021, while economic ties between China and the US did not see any substantial progress over the past year, He Weiwen, a former senior trade official and an executive council member of the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies, said at the Global Times Annual Forum on Saturday.

China pulled back on its already halting progress toward meeting its U.S. trade deal targets, slowing purchases of all types of goods covered by the agreement.

As the two-year deadline for the phase-one trade deal between the world’s two largest economies is approaching, all eyes are on the next step.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai met virtually on Saturday morning to discuss trade issues between the two countries.