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China reports trade surplus of US$11.43b in AprilChina announced on May 10 a trade surplus of US$11.43 billion in April this year， according to data released by the General Administration of Customs.China posted a trade surplus of US$140 million last month， following the US$7.3-billion trade deficit in February.China’s export in April rose 29.9 percent year-onyear to US$155.69 billion， mark a new historic high since last December’s US$154.12 billion. April’s import stood at US$144.26 billion， up 21.8 percent from a year earlier. Total trade in April was US$299.95 billion， up 25.9 percent from same time last year. (China.org.cn)China urges US to lift hi-tech export controlsChinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan urged the United States to “set a clear timetable and roadmap” for relaxing its high-tech export control regime and recognize China’s market economy status.Wang made the remarks at the opening of the third round of the China-U.S. Strategic Economic Dialogue(SED) in Washington D.C.Wang also called on the U.S. to offer Chinese companies fair access to investing in the U.S. and avoid “politicizing economic and trade issues”.“The two sides need to fully accommodate each other’s concerns and deliver real benefits to our two peoples through concrete results from the dialogue，” said Wang.According to Wang， open trade and investment policies are crutial to promoting innovation， creating jobs， increasing income and boosting economic growth.Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming also pressed the U.S. to lift high-tech export restrictions to China.“Because the U.S. restricts its export of high technology to China， American companies suffered a lot in terms of losing market share in China， “ Chen said at a press briefing.It’s unfair that the U.S. still imposes licensing requirement on more than 2，000 items that to be exported to China， Chen noted. US manufacturers are required to clarify their end-users and end-use in China before they could export these items to the country.Last December， the US granted preferential trade rights to a total of 164 countries， said Chen， but China was excluded from the list.Such acts is not in line with the consensus that Chinese President Hu Jintao and US President Barack Obama agreed to in January to forge a “new relationship”， open a “new position” and give a “new strength” to China-US relationship， Chen said.The two-day SED is co-chaired by Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan， State Councilor Dai Bingguo and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.The dialogue mechanism was upgraded from former Strategic Dialogue and biennial Strategic Economic Dialogue， which were initiated by the two heads of state in 2005 and 2006， respectively. (Xinhua)US accused of dumping carsOn May 5th， China accused car makers in the United States of dumping sedans and cross-country vehicles with engine capacity of 2.5 liters and above in the Chinese market， and the US government had subsidized the exports.But China will not immediately impose anti-dumping tariff and countervailing duties on the US cars， the Ministry of Commerce said.But the ministry said in its final ruling issued yesterday that the dumping and subsidies have caused damage to China’s auto industry.Car makers in the US， including General Motors， Chrysler， Mercedes-Benz， BMW and Honda， are accused of dumping their autos with dumping margins ranging from 2 percent to 21.5 percent.GM’s dumping margi is 8.9 percent， and Chrysler’s is 8.8 percent.The ministry’s ruling also said the subsidy rates for cars imported from the US market ranged from 6.2 percent to 12.9 percent.“The ruling won’t have a huge impact on the overall performance of US car makers in China as auto imports still account for a small part of their sales in China，” Zhong Shi， an independent auto analyst， said.Last year， China imported about 80，100 vehicles from the US， according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. The US was the fourth largest country for auto exports to China.GM， which sell imported Cadillac CTS coupe， SRX crossover， Escalade sport utility vehicle and Buick Enclave SUV in China， said auto imports account for less than 0.5 percent of its Chinese production.Chrysler sells imported PT Cruiser and Jeep models in China.China launched the probe into auto imports from the USon November 6， 2009， on models with engine capacity of 2.0 liters or above. Later it also covered models with engines of 2.5 liters or higher. A preliminary ruling was issued in early April.Under Chinese law， parties can apply for an administrative review or file a lawsuit if they disagreed with the final ruling. (Shanghai Daily)Investment from US declines 28%US investment in China dropped sharply by 28 percent， while foreign direct investment (FDI) maintained doubledigit growth from January to April， the Ministry of Commerce said on May 17.Economists said they believed the US investment decline is temporary， and the Chinese economy， over the long term， will provide US companies with increased investment opportunities.US investment from January to April decreased to $1.03 billion and the number of US firms setting up in China also fell by 3.85 percent to 475.In contrast， European Union investment rose by 23.42 percent to $2.64 billion. Investment from the Asia-Pacific region， including Japan， South Korea and Singapore， registered growth of 31.23 percent to $32.88 billion.The ministry said that FDI for April rose by 15.21 percent， from a year earlier， to $8.46 billion， the fourth month that FDI witnessed double-digit growth this year.“US investment could drop further over the short-term，”Song Hong， head of the Department of International Trade at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences， said.Song attributed this to a decline in US manufacturing， a key component of US investment， following the global financial crisis. He also said that with the recovery in the US economy， businesses that had invested in China were returnng to the US market.But others cited rising labor costs as a reason.“We cannot ignore the fact that investment into China from developed nations， including the US， is slowing thanks to China’s rising labor costs，” said Zhang Yansheng， director of the Institute for International Economic Research under the National Development and Reform Commission.US investment in China in 2010 grew by 13.31 percent year-on-year， compared to 31 percent for its total overseas nvestment， according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.From January to April， China’s overseas direct investment (ODI) grew by 17.5 percent to $13.4 billion， with just over 31 percent， or $4.2 billion， involving mergers and acquisitions. (China Daily)Major achievements for China-U.S. economic cooperation during SEDEconomic cooperation between China and the United States has seen major achievements during the third-round China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue (SED)， Chinese Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said on May 10 at a press conference after the conclusion of the two-day event.The economic part of the SED is quite successful with concrete outcomes and in-depth discussions， noted Zhu.A key achievement of the economic dialogue is that the two countries signed the U.S.-China Comprehensive Framework for Promoting Strong， Sustainable and Balanced Growth and Economic Cooperation. This is a milestone for China-U.S. economic cooperation， said the official.During his state visit and talks with U.S. President Barack Obama in January， Chinese President Hu Jintao had made clear that China would promote comprehensive cooperation with the United States， said Zhu.The two presidents also pledged to establish a framework of comprehensive cooperation between the two countries. “Today， the two leaders’ vision has become reality，” Zhu said.China and the United States also reached consensus on a host of bilateral economic issues， including Chinese investment in the United States， said the official.“I hope this win-win cooperation can be further promoted，” he added.The two-day SED was co-chaired by Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan， State Councilor Dai Bingguo， U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.The dialogue mechanism was upgraded from the former Strategic Dialogue and biennial Strategic Economic Dialogue， which were initiated by the two countries in 2005 and 2006， respectively. (Xinhua)Chinese internet firms rush for a US listingMore domestic Internet companies are mulling a US listing after Renren.com and NetQin Mobile Inc. landed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) recently.Renren.com saw its shares surging 28.6 percent in its debut on May 4， while shares of NetQin tumbled more than 13%， marking the worst first-day performance of any initial public offering (IPO) so far this year in the U.S.Despite the mixed performances， more Chinese Internet companies are lining up for an IPO on the US stock market. Cloudary Corporation， a wholly-owned online literature business unit of Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd.， and Hexun.com， China’s largest business news website， are in the process of a listing in the United States.Several other companies are also planning to go public on the NYSE this month， including Shanghai-based TaoMee Inc.， which runs a social-networking website for Chinese children， and Shenzhen Xunlei Network Technology Ltd， a video and music file-sharing company partly owned by Google Inc.Analysts believe that the listing boom by domestic Internet companies may be partly because of the successful debuts of Youku.com and Dangdang.com by the end of last year.The year of 2011 marks the fourth round of the dot-com IPO boom， said some industry insiders. The first round happened in 1999 to 2000 when portal websites such as Sina， Sohu and Netease went public. The second round came in 2003 and 2004 as Ctrip.com， Tencent Holdings， Shanda， Jrj.com and 51job.com got listed. The year 2007 saw a third IPO rush， with Alibaba.com and ZTgame.com listing. (China.org.cn)