China is willing to work with the United States to seek a
balance in their trade, but it will not help if political elements
are embedded in the issue, a top Chinese legislator said
yesterday.
Cheng
Siwei, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National
People's Congress, said China and the United States should ease
frictions in their trade ties and find a win-win solution through
consultations.
"We are equal partners and we should deal with the problem
calmly, don't politicize it," Cheng told a Sino-US trade forum.
Cheng's remarks came amidst the backdrop of rising criticism
against China in the United States, which last week reported an
all-time-high trade deficit of US$725.8 billion for 2005.
Congressmen are pressuring the Bush administration to find fault
with China, with which the United States registered an annual
deficit of US$201.6 billion, the largest ever recorded with a
single country.
US senators Byron Dorgan and Lindsey Graham introduced
legislation last week to repeal the normal trade relations status
between the two countries.
The US Congress granted China permanent normal trade relations
status in 2000, paving the way for its entry to the World Trade
Organization.
Another piece of legislation proposes to impose across-the-board
tariffs of 27.5 percent on Chinese imports unless Beijing revalues
its currency.
Cheng admitted that China has a big trade surplus with the
United States, but clarified that it is not the country's aim.
"What we should bear in mind is that both sides reap benefits
from trade cooperation," he said.
He quoted a study by US investment bank Morgan Stanley
estimating that US consumers had saved US$600 billion in the past
decade by buying cheaper goods made in China.
China had also used a significant chunk of foreign exchange
reserves, partly earnings from its trade surplus, to buy US bonds.
At the end of 2005, China held US$300 billion in US treasury
bonds.
Cheng called on the United States to help reduce its deficit
with China by relaxing restrictions on high-tech exports only 10
percent of China's high-tech imports come from the United
States.
"I would say if you could sell a space shuttle to China, the
situation would be greatly improved," Cheng said. "That's a joke.
But China has to be allowed to buy more than Boeing airplanes."
Vice-Minister of Commerce Yi Xiaozhun told the forum that China
had done a lot to reduce the trade deficit, with imports from the
United States witnessing the highest growth in 2005.
China reported that its surplus with the United States last year
was US$114.2 billion. Using different statistical standards caused
the discrepancy with the US figure.
(China Daily February 15, 2006)