It has become commonplace to argue that the world has entered an era of great-power competition after a brief post-Cold War interregnum. The United States and China, as the two most powerful states in the system, are at the epicentre of this contest. The evolution of this most vital international relationship in various contexts – whether security matters, trade or cyber – will also have profound implications for the future of the global order. The first panel of the 6th Annual Helsinki Summer Session explores the current state and future prospects of US-China relations. What are the most important areas of confluence and conflict between the two powers? How can the potential for further deterioration in the relationship be mitigated in the short- and longer term? To what extent is responsible great-power competition possible, and what would be its central parameters?