The United States of America (hereinafter referred to as the 'US') was the second largest trading partner of China in 2005. According to the China Customs, the bilateral trade between China and the US reached US$211.63 billion in 2005, an increase of 24.8 percent. This figure includes China's exports to the US of US$162.9 billion, up 30.4 percent, and China's imports from the US of US$48.73 billion, up 9.1 percent. China's surplus amounted to US$114.17 billion for the year. China's exports to the US consisted mainly of machinery, electronic products, footwear, toys, furniture, trunks and bags, plastics and plastic products, garments and other textile products, photo-optical equipment, automobiles and auto parts, steel products, etc. China's imports from the US consisted mainly of yellow soybeans, aircraft, machinery and electronic products, cotton (not carded or combed), craft paper and mechanical wood pulp paper, unspecified measuring and checking instruments, miscellaneous chemical products, polypropylene and other plastic products, aluminum oxide, cross-country cars, and other goods.

According to the Ministry of Commerce (hereinafter referred to as 'MOFCOM'), the turnover of completed engineering contracts by Chinese companies in the US reached US$410 million in 2005, with the volume of newly signed contracts reaching US$530 million. The volume of completed labor service cooperation contracts was US$87.34 million, and that of newly signed labor service cooperation contracts was US$58.42 million. By the end of 2005, the accumulated turnover of engineering contracts completed by Chinese companies in the US had reached US$2.43 billion, with the number of all contracts signed reaching US$3.33 billion, the volume of completed labor service contracts reaching US$1.99 billion, and total contracts signed reaching US$1.94 billion.

According to MOFCOM, 125 Chinese-funded, non- financial enterprises were set up in the US in 2005, with a total contractual investment of US$220 million by Chinese investors. By the end of 2005, a total of 1,008 Chinese-funded, non-financial enterprises had been set up in the US with a combined total contractual investment of US$1.31 billion.

According to MOFCOM, US investors invested in 3,741 projects in China in 2005, with a total contractual investment of US$13.51 billion and an actual utilization of US$3.06 billion. By the end of 2005, US investors had accumulatively invested in 49,006 FDI projects in China with a total contractual investment of US$112.12 billion and an actual utilization of US$51.09 billion.