Annual bilateral trade volume between China and the United States is expected to double by 2024, according to Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng.

Gao, in a column published in USA Today on Sept 22 under the headline “China-US trade soars, benefitting both nations”, wrote that “by 2024, the volume of bilateral trade is likely to surpass $1 trillion”.

Sino-US commercial cooperation has broad prospects and enormous potential, and in the 36 years since China and the US established diplomatic ties, the two countries’ commercial relations started from scratch and took off, he said.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, bilateral trade in goods hit $555.1 billion last year, up 227-fold since diplomatic relations were forged and a reflection of the integration of China’s economy with the world economy.

With the bilateral trade in goods expected to double in the next decade, experts believe Sino-US trade will benefit both nations and continue growing.

“China and the US share extensive common interests and mutual demands, with economic globalization and regional economic integration rapidly developing,” said Chen Fengying, an expert on the world economy at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

“Economic and trade cooperation not only acts like a stabilizer in terms of Sino-US bilateral relations, but also directly affects the global economic recovery process,” she said.

“While both China and the US should avoid trade friction, the increasing conflict also reflects growing bilateral trade volume, and governments, companies and the public should deal with the frictions with a positive and objective attitude.”

According to Gao, the number of Chinese enterprises investing in the US has risen rapidly in recent years, while numerous cases attest to the mutual benefits.

“Over the last four decades, for example, Wanxiang Group has grown from a small workshop for agricultural machinery into a big business with a global presence. Since its entry into the US market, Wanxiang has successively acquired more than 20 companies and saved over 10 manufacturing factories that had been on the verge of bankruptcy,” he wrote.

“Altogether, it hired 12,500 people in the US, and one out of every three cars produced in North America to day uses parts and components that were made by Wanxiang America Inc.”

Gao also mentioned in his column that companies from China and the US have been cooperating and competing extensively since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1979.

“For more than 30 years, our bilateral trade and investment has brought real benefits to our peoples and contributed to great development in both countries,” he wrote.

“As President Xi Jinping visits the United States this week, history tells us that Sino-US economic cooperation is win-win, and we look forward to a bright future.”