Facts About Trade

China and the United States have a strong, mutually beneficial bi-lateral relationship that includes everything from agriculture to entertainment. We need to build upon these ties—not threaten them with job–killing, protectionist tariffs that harm both nations and help neither.

EDUCATION

In 2007, there were more than 42,000 students from Mainland China studying in the United States, an increase from fewer than 20,000 in 2003, according to the State Department. (Source: The New York Times)

The Shanghai and Beijing are becoming new lands of opportunity for recent American college graduates. Chinese economy is more hospitable for both entrepreneurs and job seekers, with a gross domestic product that rose 7.9 percent in the most recent quarter compared with the period a year earlier. (Source: The New York Times)

FOOD

According to the magazine Chinese Restaurant News, there are nearly 41,000 Chinese restaurants in the United States, three times the number of McDonalds franchise units (and at $17 billion in annual sales, at a par with the gargantuan hamburger chain). (Source: Life in the USA)

ENTERTAINMENT

In the late 20th to the early 21st century, the avalanche of Chinese film and movie talents started moving to Hollywood in droves. These included acclaimed directors such as John Woo (Face Off; Broken Arrow), Lee Ang (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Incredible Hulk; Brokeback Mountain), actor Chow Yuen Fatt (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; The Killer), actress Zhang Zhi Yi (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; The Geisha) martial arts director, Woo Yeun Ping (Matrix; Kill Bill), actor/director Jackie Chan (Shanghai Knights; Rush Hour) and many others. (Source: Chinese Culture)

FASHION

Some of the most prominent and innovative American designers working today are of Chinese ancestry: Alexander Wang, Derek Lam, Philip Lim, Vera Wang (Source: Suite101.com)

SCIENCE

In July 2009, China and the United States announced the establishment of a joint clean energy research center. The science deal was one of the first China-U.S. governmental agreements, which laid a solid foundation for bilateral cooperation in a wide-range of fields. (Source: People's Daily Online)

SPORTS

China is the N.B.A.’s largest market outside the United States. Nearly a third of the traffic to NBA.com comes to the Mandarin Chinese side of the site. (Source: The New York Times)
On January 14, 2008 The National Basketball Association announced the formation of NBA China, a new entity that will conduct all of the league’s businesses in Greater China. (Source: National Basketball Association)

TRIVIA

$207 million
The value of fireworks imported from China in 2007, representing the bulk of all U.S. fireworks imported ($217 million). U.S. exports of fireworks, by comparison, came to just $14.9 million in 2007, with Japan purchasing more than any other country ($3.8 million). (Source: U.S. Census Bureau Foreign Trade Statistics)

$4.7 million
In 2007, the dollar value of U.S. imports of American flags. The vast majority of this amount ($4.3 million) was for U.S. flags made in China. (Source: U.S. Census Bureau Foreign Trade Statistics)

Chinese Immigrants made up 4.1 percent of all U.S. immigrants in 2006.
More than half of all Chinese immigrants reside in just two states: California and New York. (Source: Migration Policy Institute)

"Made in China" is one of the most recognizable labels in the world today due to the large manufacturing industry of the rapidly developing China. The label can be seen on a huge range of goods from clothing to electronics.

While up to 35 percent of NBA stars have some kind of Chinese-themed motif inked into their skins, the number of Chinese sports stars or entertainers with tattoos is minimal. (Source: Chinese Culture)

BUSINESS

Since 2000, U.S. exports to China are up more than 300 percent, benefiting almost every state, county, and congressional district. The next-biggest increase was to Germany, far behind at 70 percent. (Source: China and the US Economy: Advancing a Winning Trade Agenda [pdf], 01/14/09)

In a 2006 study, Oxford Economics estimated that if the outstanding impediments to services sector growth in China were fully removed, the bilateral services trade surplus with China would increase to around $60 billion by 2015, supplemented by extra income derived from U.S. investments in China worth $7 billion—boosting U.S. GDP in the short term by about 0.3 percent and creating up to 240,000 U.S. services-sector jobs. (Source: China and the US Economy: Advancing a Winning Trade Agenda [pdf], 01/14/09)