US actually gets great benefits from its trade deficit with China

AT A MAY 25 FINANCIAL FORUM hosted by Tsinghua University, Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, entrusted a senior official of the commission to deliver a speech on his behalf. The followings are excerpts:

The United States has run a trade deficit for most of the years since 1971 when it unilaterally de-pegged the dollar from gold. One of the major reasons for the US' long-term trade deficit is that under the dollar's hegemony as the main international settlement and reserve currency, the US needs to provide dollar liquidity to the rest of the world and thus needs to maintain a current account deficit in order to maintain the balance of international payments, resulting in its trade deficit.

If the US had no trade deficit, it would not be able to meet the needs for the dollar in international trade, and it would not be possible to maintain the dollar's status as the main international currency. So under the current monetary system, the US cannot eliminate its trade deficit and can only shift it from one country to another.