Commerce Ministry: China is an 'attractive' destination for US investment

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As Donald Trump becomes the next US President, development of economic ties between China and the US has remained one of the heated topics across the world.

China on Thursday, a day ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration, voiced its expectations that cooperation and bilateral ties with the new US administration would continue to strengthen from a new starting point.

“According to last year's statistics from China's Ministry of Commerce, the US unilateral investments in China year-on-year grew by 52.6 percent. This shows that China is very attractive for US companies,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying.

Hua Chunying /CFP Photo

Hua’s remarks came in response to a recent US report of growing pessimism among US companies about the trade relationship between the two countries.‍

In a jointly-published report, the American Chamber of Commerce and Bain & Company say 83 percent of respondents expect bilateral relations to remain the same or deteriorate this year, with many pointing out the biggest question is how the two sides will take measures to ensure a positive business environment in 2017.

China’s Commerce Ministry said on Thursday it intends to pursue dialogue with Washington to push forward a stable and healthy development of economic and trade relationship between China and US.

Meanwhile, Trump’s chief spokesman Sean Spicer said that fighting for American workers and manufacturing will be Washington's guiding principle when it comes to global trade. However, he added that it doesn't mean the Trump administration wants to sacrifice access to the Chinese marketplace for small businesses at home.

More than two and a half million US jobs depend on trade with China, according to data from the US China Business Council.

"With respect to China alone, it's a huge marketplace for American workers and small businesses. You look at the commitment that Alibaba made when they met with him the other day, talking about increasing access to small businesses,” Spicer said.

Data from China’s Ministry of Commerce show that Sino-US trade volume grew to about 519.6 billion US dollars in 2016 from 2.5 billion US dollars in 1979, surging by 211 times within 38 years.

CGTN Photo