Clarity urged on Sino-US trade issues

Washington should face the matter of deficit squarely: former vice-premier

The "real" trade imbalance between the world's two largest economies has long been overstated by 20 percent. Better data would give a more balanced picture of Sino-US trade and reflect the gains that both sides derive from their economic relationship, said former Chinese Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan.

There has always been divergence between Chinese and US figures on the bilateral trade gap due to the different methods used. Current methods omit trade in services from the trade balance, overlooking China's role in processing trade, and thus overestimating the trade deficit, Zeng told a seminar in Hong Kong on Tuesday.