Bank takes broader view of trade dispute

Economists have offered a new approach to depict a fuller picture of commercial relations between China and the United States, rather than just focusing on trade imbalance data, which they said was misleading.

A Deutsche Bank report using "aggregate sales balance" - which includes both trade balance and sales generated through subsidiaries through foreign direct investments in destination countries - has found that the actual bilateral imbalance between the world's two largest economies is much smaller than previously estimated.

The report said it is misleading to judge economic exposure between two countries by looking only at the trade balance. The report further said it is mutually beneficial if the two countries avoid a trade war.