Trade between China and United States to take front seat

The United States is expected to overtake the European Union as China's largest trade partner this year, a former vice-minister of commerce said.

At the same time, China's trade structure will continue to optimize, and private companies are likely to dominate the export sector, Wei Jianguo, who is also vice-president of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, told China Daily in an exclusive interview.

Sino-US trade will continue to boom in the second half of this year, "with China's imports from the US growing faster than its exports". Therefore, the US trade deficit with China will decline, he said.