Highlights of This Month’s Edition
· Bilateral trade: In October 2017, U.S. goods trade deficit grew 13.2 percent year-on-year to reach $35.2 billion; year-to-date, the deficit reached $309 billion, up 7 percent year-on-year.
· Bilateral policy issues: President Trump traveled to China for a presidential summit with President Xi, which culminated in a series of business agreements worth about $250 billion, but no resolutions on higher-priority issues; citing wide-spread shortcomings in China’s economic reform, the U.S. Department of Commerce maintains its classification of China as a nonmarket economy, prompting China to launch a new WTO case against the United States.
· Policy trends in China’s economy: China announces plans to relax or eliminate caps on foreign ownership in Chinese financial institutions; NDRC launches third wave of mixed-ownership SOE reforms, seeking to introduce increased private capital in the state sector while simultaneously strengthening government’s role in the economy; Alibaba’s Singles’ Day reaches new sales record of $25.3 billion, eclipsing U.S. Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.
· Sector focus – Commercial Aviation: U.S. and Chinese aviation regulations will recognize each other’s approvals for aircraft and aviation products, likely increasing U.S. imports of Chinese aircraft and aviation.