Interestingly enough, the importance of FDI in China is not declining, and many of the economic goals set by your own government will in fact require FDI in order to be achieved.

Likewise, FDI from China into the US has also been beneficial. And although this might come as a surprise to some, annual Chinese FDI into the US now exceeds US FDI into China. China’s intended investments of $18 billion in the US thus far in 2016 already exceed last year’s level of $15.3 billion – and is one hundred times higher than the level of just a decade ago. By the end of 2015, Chinese affiliated companies in the US accounted for almost 90,000 jobs. And these companies are rapidly increasing their innovation-related activities. In the late 1990s Chinese companies were spending virtually nothing on research and development in the US, but that figure has risen to $500 million in recent years, benefiting local workers and local communities through the same type of positive spillover impacts brought by US FDI providers in China.

The obvious point is that both of our countries have profited significantly from FDI inflows from the other country. And while US FDI into China has been historically more substantial, Chinese FDI into the US is rapidly growing in importance – both for communities in the US, as well as the profitability of the Chinese corporate sector. Ideally, we’d like to see these trends continue.

But all of this is in jeopardy, as the business environment in China for foreign companies is becoming more difficult. There is a growing sense that now that US (and other foreign investors) have helped to build up a fleet of world-class Chinese companies, they will be squeezed out of the Chinese market. Many foreign firms contend that the regulatory regime is being used to unfairly target and harass them and that the “playing field” is being tilted towards their FDI-empowered Chinese competitors in a host of subtle and not-so-subtle ways. We are routinely hearing concerns expressed about a lack of transparency, onerous licensing requirements, and uneven enforcement of laws and regulations.

Unfortunately, the official Chinese response has been to discount these concerns, and the perception that foreign firms are no longer welcome in China has continued to grow, while our negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty remain bogged down. This is the atmosphere which exists between our countries as I prepare to take office.

Let’s take this opportunity to build a new relationship built upon a pragmatic understanding of the many areas in which we can cooperate for mutual gain. It is in both our interests to create an economic environment in which US companies can compete on a level playing field in China while continuing to make substantial contributions to China’s economic development. And Chinese companies should be free to pursue profitable investments in the US that bring jobs and dynamism to local communities from California to New York. This is the future that citizens in both our countries deserve.

But it must be a two-way street. The door in the US cannot remain open if the door in China is gradually closing. Make no mistake about it: whether in a positive sense or a negative sense, we are moving towards greater reciprocity between our two countries. The treatment you accord to US commercial interests in China will be the treatment accorded to Chinese commercial interests in the US. I’ve heard you speak on many occasions of the need to find “win-win” solutions. Now is the time to put those words into practice.

The ball is in your court, President Xi.

Sincerely, Donald J. Trump