US-China trade reaches record high despite rising tensions

Bilateral trade between the United States and China hit a record high in 2022 even as their diplomatic relations deteriorated.

Imports and exports between the two countries totalled $690.6bn last year, official figures show.

Relations between the countries have hit new lows in recent days after a Chinese balloon travelled across the US. Beijing denies US claims it was used for spying.

The world's two biggest economies have also been in a trade war since 2018.

The new figures show that US imports from China increased to $536.8bn in 2022 as American shoppers spent more on Chinese-made goods, including toys and mobile phones. In the same period, US exports to China increased to $153.8bn.

While some of the increase in trade between the two countries is a result of the rising cost of living, the figures also point to how reliant the US and China still are on each other even after years of trade conflict.

In 2018, the Trump administration started to ramp up trade measures against Beijing. After decades of rising Chinese imports, the then president Donald Trump began imposing tariffs on a total of more than $300bn worth of Chinese goods. China hit back by placing import levies on about $100bn of American goods.

Most of those measures remain in place more than two years after Joe Biden became president.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had been due to visit China from 5 to 6 February to hold talks on a wide range of issues, including security, Taiwan and Covid-19, what was seen as a thawing of relations between the two country's.

However, the trip was abruptly postponed after the discovery of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that drifted across America.