“Economy and trade is what glues China and the US together,” said Wang Huiyao, CCG President, in an interview with Global Times. Economy and trade has always been the topic of public interest. It has brought China and the US closely together.

CCG experts recently made a visit to the US and interacted with the US political and business communities and think tanks on a number of topics including bilateral trade. While in the US, Wang made three suggestions on improve China-US economic ties: infrastructure cooperation, relaxing restrictions on Chinese investment in the US, and US surplus in trade in services to China.

Wang believes in the importance of China-US infrastructure cooperation. after his inauguration, President Trump announced a 1 trillion infrastructure investment plan, which is yet to be implemented. The US needs to upgrade a large amount of its infrastructure, including railway, power stations and grids. China’s infrastructure is the name card of the country. The high-speed railway network and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao bridge are truly impressive. Yet they are not turned into global public goods. If Chinese infrastructure companies can enter the US market, they will make a tremendous international impact.

On Chinese investment in the US, Wang said that CFIUS has slowed down the approval of Chinese projects. Quite a number of projects still stay with CFIUS. President Trump recently vetoed an acquisition of a US semi-conductor company by a China-related PE fund. As a matter of fact, China’s improving manufacturing capabilities in recent years put China in a better position to meet the needs of the US market. Therefore, the US should relax its control on Chinese investment. Fuyao Glass’s factory is a case in point and conforms to the US desire to bring back the manufacturing sector.

When it comes to China-US trade, Wang mentioned two areas of surplus that are not included in statistics. One is international students, the other is tourists. There are over 300,000 Chinese students studying at American universities plus many more high school students, the number of whom exceeds 400,000. If one student pays US$30,000-40,000 for tuition and living expenses, it will create an income of US$12-16 billion for the US. By comparison, there are only 20,000 American students in China. Tourism revenues taken into account, the US also wins.