Also, President Bush actively supported permanent normalized trade relations with China. In his view, American farmers and businessmen would gain better benefits from freer access to the large Chinese market. He therefore asked the US Congress to extend normalized trade relations with China in 2001: “Fair trade is essential not only to improving living standards for Americans but also for a strong and productive relationship with China.” President Bush and his team believed that trading with China would be a good thing for the US and Chinese economies. Integrating China into the world economy would ultimately lead to the promotion of human dignity in China and the emergence of a good China. In her 2000 article entitled “Promoting the National Interest” Condoleezza Rice, Bush's Secretary of State, wrote: President Bush's efforts to build a cooperative relationship with China can also be seen in his way of maintaining frank and productive relations with Chinese leaders. In 2002–2003 the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) broke out in China. There were up to 5,327 infections and 348 deaths in China. While the Chinese leadership had been criticized for its handling of the SARS outbreak, President Bush praised his Chinese counterpart for being open about this transnational epidemic. President Bush's public support for President Hu in that critical moment was highly appreciated by the Chinese president and contributed to building cooperative leader-to-leader relations between the United States and China.