Apple News Facebook Twitter 新浪微博 Instagram YouTube Wednesday, Mar 15, 2023
Search
Archive
English>>

Sino-U.S. trade greatly benefit people of both countries, world economy

By Dr. Ulf Henning RICHTER and Yuanyu MU (Xinhuanet)    19:21, April 13, 2017

Chinese President Xi Jinpingmet lately with U.S President Donald Trump in Trump’s private mansion Mar-a-Lago in Florida, the first official meeting since the new U.S.government took office in January.

The two world leaders aimed to open a new page of their bilateral relationship and discuss issues of common concern, in particular the large U.S. trade deficit with China which may cause protectionist measures by the U.S. and other issues in the " four pillar" dialogue mechanisms.

Trade between the two economic giants has increasingly drawn the public’s attention. The bilateral trade volume amounted to 519.6 billion dollars in 2016, and continues to grow. However, the U.S. trade deficit with China is rather troublesome for a president that has been swept to power by the slogan “America First”.

Sino-U.S. trade has greatly benefited the people of both countries, and the world economy at large. The trade deficit has been caused by the growing hunger of the U.S. for cheap consumer goods such as electronics and clothing, as well as machinery.

The trade deficit only tells half of the tale though since many U.S. manufacturers have outsourced production, shipping raw materials or low value parts for assembly to China, and reimporting the finished goods back to the U.S., most famously Apple’s iPhone manufactured by Foxconn.

President Xi has successfully turned China’s inward-looking politics focusing on economic development and urbanization towards a positive, open, outward oriented program through his One Belt, One Road initiative.

His government is on the fast track in developing frameworks for its future role in global governance, focusing on connecting China and Eurasia and economic cooperation, emphasizing China’s growing maturity on the global stage.

The foundation of the Asian Infrastructure Development Bank (AIIB) as one of its key policy instruments manifests Beijing’s drive for a multipolar system. As of today, the AIIB has deployed more than 2 billion dollars in infrastructure loans with an expected 10-15 billion dollars a year for the first five or six years.

China strongly believes in the benefit for both nations to stay open and collaborate on key issues of global security and economic prosperity. Xi mentioned to Trump there are "a thousand reasons" to make the China-U.S. relationship work, and "no reason to break it."

Economic globalization, and Sino-U.S. trade in particular, has powered global growth and facilitated movement of goods and capital, advances in science, technology and civilization, and interactions among peoples.

For instance, in Los Angeles, Chinese firms are already among the largest real estate investors. China’s CRRC Corporation is now building metro cars for the mass transportation systems in Chicago and Boston, having invested in local factories and thereby creating jobs for the American people.

Many new Hollywood movies star Chinese actors to make them attractive for the Chinese public, and are often funded by Chinese investors. Most prominently Dalian Wanda acquired Legendary Entertainment, the Hollywood production company behind such blockbusters as “Jurassic World” and “The Dark Knight”.

The U.S. education system remains highly attractive to Chinese students. U.S. universities host an increasing number of self-financed Chinese students.

China and the U.S. also cooperate in running schools, such as the Chinese campus of Duke University in Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province, and the Shanghai New York University, and most recently the MIT supply chain research center in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province.

The growing economic interdependence is accompanied by an exchange of technology and talents which creates ample opportunities for both the U.S. and the Chinese people. In the U.S., public confidence in economy has increased, especially after the Federal Reserve rate hike in March. As a result, “concerns about U.S. debt, job losses and trade deficits have generally eased”, as a survey powered by Pew Research Centre suggested. The proportion of U.S. citizens who see the trade deficits as a severe problem has declined by 17 percent compared with the figure five years ago. The same survey suggested that young U.S. citizens seem to become more open and closer to China. With growing mutual understanding and economic prosperity enjoyed by both sides, a peaceful coexistence and common prosperity will be possible. The Xi-Trump meeting has provided a healthy starting point for consensus building especially in the issue of bilateral trade to open a new chapter in the relationship of the two giants.

(For the latest China news, Please follow People's Daily on Twitter and Facebook)(Web editor: Du Mingming, Bianji)

Add your comment

We Recommend

Most Read

Key Words