China seeking US trade balance

US must strengthen efforts to hike exports

China will continue to actively increase imports from the US and has not deliberately sought trade surpluses with it, a Chinese official noted Thursday after the US recently said that increasing Chinese imports have caused the large deficit.

On July 19, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said at the opening of the US- China Comprehensive Economic Dialogue in Washington that while US exports to China have grown in recent years, imports from China have expanded even faster, leading to a $ 309 billion trade deficit, according to media reports.

China’s goods trade surplus to the US is caused by factors such as the difference between the two countries’ economic structure and industrial competitiveness as well as the international division of labor, Gao Feng, spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce ( MOFCOM), told the Global Times on Thursday.

“Other influential elements include the current trade statistics system and US regulations on exports of high- tech products to China,” Gao said.

The markets and choices from both countries’ companies and consumers determine the imports or exports between the two nations, according to Gao.

China and the US have made active efforts to address bilateral trade imbalances since the two presidents met at Mara- Largo, Florida in April, Gao said, noting that China re- started imports of beef from the US last month after a 14- year ban.

In the first half, China imported $ 1.4 billion worth of crude oil and liquefied natural gas from the US, up 600 percent from the imports of 2016, according to the ministry.

China’s e- commerce companies are also helping US smalland medium- sized enterprises to sell more products to the Chinese market, according to Gao.

“We need to notice that the trade balance not only includes trade in goods, but also services. The US is the country with which China has largest services trade deficit… from 2006- 16, bilateral services trade volume increased 330 percent, while the deficit was up 3,370 percent,” Gao said.

From January to May, China’s services trade deficit with the US reached $ 23 billion, an increase of 17 percent on a yearly basis, the spokesman said.

China has deliberately not sought a trade surplus with the US and is willing to continue the adoption of active measures to expand imports from the country to reduce the trade deficit, Gao told the Global Times, noting that in return, the US is expected to strengthen efforts to broaden exports to China.