Trade between China and the United States this year is expected to grow to a historic high of 73.5 billion dollars, based on a record trade during the first 10 months, state press reported Sunday.
Two-way trade between the countries in the first 10 months of 2000 reached 61.32 billion dollars, equal to the total for 1999, said Xinhua news agency, citing ministry of foreign trade and economic cooperation statistics.
China exported to the United States 43.37 billion dollars worth of goods during the 10 months, while US exports to China were valued at 17.96 billion dollars, resulting in a 25.41 billion dollar trade surplus for China, it said.
"The final settlement of the permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) issue, in particular, has helped fuel the trade growth between the two giants," the report said.
The US granted China PNTR in October, ending a cumbersome annual renewal process that often broke down into political bickering over Beijing's human rights record.
Despite the political strains, the United States remains China's second largest trading partner after Japan, while China is the fourth largest trading partner of the United States.
Direct foreign investment by the United States to China during the first 11 months of the year totaled 3.59 billion dollars, the report said, while 2,301 US-invested ventures were approved to do business in China during the period.
Total contractual US investment in China totaled 59.7 billion dollars, with 29.3 billion dollars of actual investment put in place, it said.
The United States has been the largest provider of direct foreign investment into China over the last three years.
According to statistics from the US Census Bureau, US-China trade after the first three quarters of the year amounted to 84.4 billion dollars, with China enjoying a 61 billion dollar trade surplus.
US trade statistics through September also show US-China bilateral trade and China's trade surplus with the United States will hit new annual highs.
The two countries greatly differ on their methods of calculating bilateral trade, with processing trade by Hong Kong and Taiwan companies and trade transshipped through Hong Kong and Taiwan accounting for much of the difference -- BEIJING (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
