China and US have developed closed-knit and intertwined economic relations, and a trade war between China and the US would only cause pain without any gain, Chinese Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said on Saturday at a press conference during the Fifth Session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC).
China is not the sole beneficiary of Sino-US economic ties, which are win-win by nature. US economic relations with China have brought substantial benefits to the US, Zhong noted.
Chinese Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan waves at a press conference during the Fifth Session of the 12th National People's Congress in Beijing on March 11, 2017. /CFP Photo
US exports to China have been growing much faster than the other way around. Specifically, exports of goods from the US to China have risen by an annual average of 11 percent in the past decade, making China its fastest-growing export market outside North America, said Zhang. Meanwhile, the figure for China’s exports to the US is only 6.6 percent, he said.
Also, 26 percent of the exports of US aircraft maker Boeing, 56 percent of US soybeans exports, 16 percent of US automobile exports and 15 percent of US electronic integrated circuit exports are all destined for China.
Sino-US trade volume grew from 2.5 billion dollars in 1979 to about 519.6 billion dollars in 2016, while mutual investment exceeded 170 billion dollars and mutual service trade over 110 billion dollars by the end of 2016.
Zhong stressed that economic and trade cooperation is the “cornerstone” and “propeller” of China-US relations, and it is a shared job of China and US to develop healthy, stable and sustainable bilateral relations.
'Confident that China will become a strong trading nation'
Chinese Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan speaks at a press conference during the Fifth Session of the 12th National People's Congress in Beijing on March 11, 2017. /CFP Photo
China will adjust its growth pattern in foreign trade from simply expanding the volume to improving quality, said Zhong at the press conference.
China will make further efforts to strengthen China's role as a big trading nation and push for its increasing prowess in the sector to realize the goal of becoming a “strong trading nation”.
Zhong pointed out that China's foreign trade contributed to the creation of 180 million jobs, and taxes on foreign trade accounted for 18 percent of China's total tax revenue.
China's foreign trade has stabilized and returned to growth in recent months, but concerns are looming on rising trade protectionism in some countries that is likely to bring uncertainties to the outlook.
In a good start to 2017, China's foreign trade reached 2.18 trillion yuan (about 316.4 billion US dollars) in January, up 19.6 percent year-on-year.
February's data generally continued the growth momentum. In the first two months combined, exports increased 11 percent from a year ago, and imports jumped 34.2 percent.
Last year, total export and import value decreased 0.9 percent year-on-year to 24.33 trillion yuan, narrowing from a 7 percent decline in 2015.
