China News Agency, Beijing, June 8 (Reporter Li Xiaoyu) According to the data of the General Administration of Customs of China, the total value of Sino-US trade in the first five months was 1.89 trillion yuan (RMB, the same below), a year-on-year decrease of 5.5%, far worse than that of China in the same period. The overall performance of foreign trade increased by 4.7% year-on-year. Among them, China's exports to the United States were 1.38 trillion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 8.5%.

　　There are many reasons for the shrinking trade volume between China and the United States. Zhang Xiaotao, dean of the School of International Economics and Trade of the Central University of Finance and Economics, said in an interview with a reporter from China News Agency that in addition to political factors that have significantly interfered with Sino-US economic and trade relations, the recovery of the world economy is not stable, and companies have uncertain expectations for the future; The transfer to Mexico, Southeast Asia, and South Asia has also affected the scale of Sino-US trade to a certain extent.

　　In Zhang Xiaotao's view, the current decline in Sino-US trade volume, especially the decline in China's exports to the US, is a normal phenomenon under the background of the adjustment of the global industrial division of labor and the acceleration of regional economic integration. This shows that China's dependence on traditional export markets such as the United States and Europe is decreasing, and the market structure is becoming increasingly diverse. It does not mean that China-US economic and trade relations are "decoupling".

　　The recent intensive visits to China by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and other executives from American companies show that the "decoupling" of Sino-US economic and trade is a false proposition.

　　In the words of Glaser, the former chief economist of the Office of the United States Trade Representative, although the US policy of imposing tariffs on China has an impact on bilateral trade, the behavior of consumers and enterprises is more influential than political decisions.

　　Hua Ganglin, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, also previously revealed that China is "always a very important investment destination" for US companies, and US companies are still increasing investment in China, "most companies have not transferred their supply chains."

　　However, some analysts reminded that although the shrinking trade volume between China and the United States does not mean that the two countries' economic and trade "decoupling", there are some deep-rooted problems behind it that must be investigated.

　　Cui Xiaomin, an associate researcher at the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, wrote that bilateral trade between China and the United States will recover steadily in 2022, mainly driven by strong domestic demand and price factors in the United States. Last year, trade partners such as NAFTA members, ASEAN, and the EU all increased their exports to the United States significantly, which was faster than China's exports to the United States.

　　Cui Xiaomin said that in the total US trade in goods, China's share will drop from 14.8% in 2020 to 12.9% in 2022, while the shares of Canada and Mexico have steadily increased during the same period, with Canada rising from 13.9% to 14.8%. On the US import side, China's share is also declining, accounting for 16.4% in 2022, down 5 percentage points from 21.4% in 2017. To a certain extent, this reflects the decline in the relative competitiveness of Chinese products in the United States.

　　It is worth noting that Chinese foreign trade companies are already actively promoting product transformation and upgrading. The "three new products" such as electric passenger vehicles, lithium batteries, and solar batteries are becoming an important support for China's exports.

　　Zhang Xiaotao believes that in addition to enterprises strengthening market development and product research and development, China should continue to improve the business environment, strive for all possible cooperation opportunities, and buy time and space for domestic industrial transformation and upgrading. In the long run, it is still "cautiously optimistic" about the prospects for Sino-US trade.