Bumpy ride for Sino-US trade

The US refuses to abandon the practice of discriminating against Chinese enterprises. In fact, in October 2012 the US House of Representatives' Intelligence Committee asked American companies to stop doing business with Huawei and ZTE, alleging that the two Chinese companies posed a threat to US national security.

Such actions, combined with the refusal to grant China market economy status, makes clear the US' preference to deal with trade frictions unilaterally. They also jeopardize the healthy development of Sino-US trade.

The other ploy used by the US to contain China's rise in the economic field is the yuan's exchange rate. It continues to claim that the yuan is undervalued, ignoring the rapid appreciation of the Chinese currency in the past almost eight years. Since China started the exchange rate reform in 2005, the yuan has appreciated by about 25 percent, largely reflecting the country's labor productivity level and the difference in salary levels between China and the US.

China's integration into the world economy is a progressive process. To reform the yuan's exchange rate according to China's actual needs will not only safeguard the country's sovereignty, but also be conducive to the healthy development of the global economy.

Sino-US economic and trade relations, especially the trade imbalance and direct Chinese investment in the US, has always been a sensitive issue for American politicians. It has been a hot campaign topic both in the US presidential election as well as the election to Congress. In fact, there has not been a single election in the US in recent years during which Sino-US trade relations have not figured prominently. The reason for that is simple: Many American politicians still suffer from Cold War mentality and expect to make political capital out of their rhetoric against China.

This means China's efforts to develop economic and trade relations with the US are destined to encounter opposition from some US politicians for some time to come.

The author is a research scholar in international trade at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

(China Daily 06/05/2013 page9)