The left chart shows the annual foreign direct investment from the U.S. to China (grey) and China to the U.S. (purple). The economic and geopolitical tension between the U.S. and China in recent years has added uncertainty to businesses operating between these countries. However, the grey bar shows that U.S. business investment in China has remained largely consistent in recent years. Chinese investment in the U.S. has softened, especially given the greater scrutiny by U.S. authorities on Chinese companies investing in strategically sensitive sectors or companies.

On the right, China's exports to the U.S. (purple) is compared with China's exports to the rest of the world (grey). Several stages of tariffs imposed on Chinese exports by the Trump administration is also added to the chart to show the impact on these measures on Chinese exports to the U.S. While tariffs did weaken Chinese exports to the U.S. initially, it started to recover in 2020 due to the pandemic and the rise in demand for consumer goods. Meanwhile, the U.S.-China trade tension had little impact on Chinese trade relationships with the rest of the world.