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butterbean · Joined: 21 Jun 2006 Posts: 2271

The world is watching: nearly half of the Bush administration is in Beijing this week for the first-ever Sino-U.S. strategic economic dialogue slated for Thursday and Friday.

The two sides will focus on wide-ranging issues including the bilateral trade imbalance, the renminbi exchange rate, further opening-up of China's financial sector to foreign competition, intellectual property rights protection as well as restrictions on high-tech U.S. exports to China.

Observers say the biggest U.S. government delegation ever to visit China, consisting U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez among four cabinet members and U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, shows the sincerity of U.S. side to reshape bilateral economic relations with China.

China's trade surplus over the United States reached 116.24 billion U.S. dollars in the first 10 months of this year, exceeding the 114.17 billion U.S. dollars for the whole 2005, according to figures provided by the General Administration of Customs.

With a growing trade surplus, China is under constant pressure from the United States to raise the value of its currency, though the yuan has appreciated by nearly 4 percent since July 21, 2005, when the Chinese government first allowed it to float against the U.S. dollar within a daily 0.3 percent band around the official central parity rate.

The exchange rate was set at about 8.28 yuan per U.S. dollar before the 2005 reform. Many American economists attributed their country's increasing trade deficit to the yuan's peg, which they said had prevented the Chinese currency's natural tendency to appreciate in value against the dollar.

FRICTIONS OVERSHADOW SURGING TRADE

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http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200612/13/eng20061213_332133.html