In 2005, the Sino-U.S. economic and trade relations were further enhanced, with China becoming the fourth largest export market of the United States, China's Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday.

Figures from Chinese customs also show that in the first 11 months of 2005, the Sino-U.S. trade volume reached 191.55 billion U.S. dollars, up 25.4 percent year on year.

During the period, China's export value to the United States grew 31.7 percent to 147.64 billion dollars, and import value from the United States grew 8.1 percent to 43.92 billion U.S. dollars, with a trade surplus of 103.72 billion dollars, up 45.1 percent.

By October 2005, the United States remained China's largest export market and second largest trade partner, the Ministry of Commerce said, expecting China to become the U.S. second trade partner in the future.

Meanwhile the U.S. contracted investment in China totaled 11.89 billion dollars, up 10.51 percent and involving 3,402 projects. By November 2005, the total contracted U.S. investment was 110.5 billion dollars, involving 48,667 projects.

With the rapid development of bilateral economic ties, the two countries also saw some trade disputes. During the first 11 months of 2005, the United States launched four antidumping investigations and one safeguard investigation against China.

Source: Xinhua