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1. Bilateral Trade and Investment
The year of 2001 witnessed a continuous good momentum in the bilateral trade, investment and economic and technical cooperation between China and US. According to the statistics of the Customs General Administration of China (CGAC), China-US trade reached a total of US$80.48 billion, up by 8.1% over the same period last year; China's export to US was US$54.28 billion, up by 4.2%; the import was US$26.2 billion, up by 17.2%; China had a surplus of US$28.08 billion. The US was the second largest trading partner of China, while China is the 4th largest trading partner of US. As the end of 2001, US has invested 33734 projects in China, and US contractual investment in China reached US$67.774 billion, and the paid-in investment was US$35.03 billion.
In 2002, the China-US bilateral trade, investment and economic and technical cooperation increased greatly. According to the data of the GACC, the China-US trade reached US$70.04 billion during January to September, an increase of 16.5% over the same period last year. China's export to US was US$50.19, up by 24.5% over the previous year, and China's import from US was US$19.84, up by 0.2%; a surplus of US$30.35 billion for China. During January to September, US invested 2403 projects in China, up 28.3% over the previous year; the contractual investment of the US was US$7.33 billion, up by 33.1%; the in-paid investment of the US was US$3.95, up by 14.8%. As of the end of September 2002, US had invested 36308 projects in China, with a contractual investment of US$75.45 billion and an in-paid investment of US$38.84 billion.
2. High Level Exchanges in the Economic & Trade Area
On July 31, 2002, Sun Zhenyu, vice minister of foreign trade and economic cooperation (MOFTEC) signed the China-US Agreed Framework on the Cooperation of Trade and Development with Thelma J. Askey, director of the US Trade and Development Agency.
On August 31, Vice Prime Minister Li Langqing met with Robert Kripowicz, vice secretary of US Energy Department. On September 10, US Secretary of Treasury Paul O'Neill participated in the 8th APEC Ministerial Meeting. On September 10, President Jiang Zemin met with US delegation headed by Paul O'Neill in Zhongnanhai. And Vice Minister Li Lanqing and Wen Jiabao met with the delegation respectively the same day as well.
On September 11, the State Planning Commission of China and the US Department of Energy, Department of Commerce jointly held the 3rd China-US Petroleum and Gas Forum in Beijing. On the same day, the 14th session of the China-US joint Commission was convened in Beijing, co-chaired by Chinese Finance Minister Xiang Huaicheng and US Secretary of Treasury O'Neill. On October 2, the Chinese Delegation for the Procurement of Boeing Airplanes headed by Zhang Guobao, vice minister of the State Development and Planning Commission and the representatives form the Boeing Corporation held a signing ceremony for the procurement of 30 Boeing airplanes in the US Department of Commerce.
In April 2002, Robert B. Zoellick, US trade representative visited China. At the third part of the month, US Commerce Secretary Evans visited China and jointly chaired the 14th China-US Joint Trade and Commerce Commission with Shi Guangsheng, minister of MOFTEC. In July, US agricultural minister visited China. In September, US vice trade representative headed a delegation to visit China and held talks with Long Yongtu, vice minister of the MOFTEC, as part of the preparation for President Jiang's visit to US as well as the Summit of the two heads of state in the area of trade and economy.
3. The Negotiation of China's Entry into the World Trade Organization
On June 9, 200l, Shi Guangsheng, Chinese minister of foreign trade and economic cooperation and Zoellick, the US trade representative reached comprehensive consensus on the major issues left over from the multilatera1 negotiations concerning China's WTO accession, during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Shanghai Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Trade. China formally became a WTO member in December.
4. The US Permanent Normal Trade Relations (the Most-Favored-Nation Status) for China
On June l, 200l, US President George W. Bush sent letters to the heads of the Senate and the House of Representatives informing his decision to extend Normal Trade Relations status for China, and asked for the support of the Congress. On July 19, the Confederate resolution not to grant China the extension of Normal Trade Relations status was overruled with l69 votes in favor and 259 against in the House of Representatives. This enabled the smooth extension of the Normal Trade Relations to China. On December 27, President Bush signed a proclamation granting Permanent Normal Trading Relations (PNTR) status to China, terminating the annual Jackson-Vanik trade verification process for China in the US Congress. The new trade status took effect as of January 1, 2002.
(Chinese Foreign Ministry, November, 2003)
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