National Business Daily:

China-U.S. trade has been a major focus since the beginning of this year. Could you provide an overview of China-U.S. trade performance in the first half of this year? What are the prospects for bilateral trade between the two countries moving forward? Thank you.

Wang Lingjun:

Thank you. Let me first provide you with an overview of the China-U.S. trade situation. In the first half of the year, bilateral trade between China and the U.S. totaled 2.08 trillion yuan, down 9.3% from the same period last year. Of this total, exports accounted for 1.55 trillion yuan, down 9.9%, while imports were 530.35 billion yuan, down 7.7%. Due to the so-called "reciprocal tariffs" announced by the U.S., China-U.S. trade shifted from year-on-year growth in the first quarter to a year-on-year decline in the second quarter, falling 20.8%.

Following positive progress in economic and trade talks in Geneva and London, China-U.S. trade has rebounded recently. The bilateral trade value rebounded in June to over 350 billion yuan from less than 300 billion yuan in May, while the year-on-year decline narrowed significantly.

The core of China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation is mutual benefit and a win-win outcome. This is not only an irreversible historical trend in the age of globalization and an objective requirement for the deep integration of industrial chains, but also a practical need for collaborative business innovation and improved quality of life in both countries.

The teams from both China and the U.S. are accelerating efforts to implement outcomes from the framework reached during the economic and trade talks in London. China wishes to emphasize once again that the Geneva consensus and London framework were hard-won achievements, that coercion and threats lead nowhere, and that dialogue and cooperation are the right path forward. We hope that the U.S. will continue to work with China to make cooperation the main theme of our economic and trade relations. This will help get the global trade system back on a path of fairness and openness and contribute to global economic recovery and growth.

Thank you.