Despite frayed bilateral relations, China-US trade volume grew 36.6 percent from January to August compared with last year, Chinese customs statistics revealed on Tuesday. 

Even though the growth rate was slightly lower compared with the 40-percent-growth in the first seven months, bilateral trade volume still hit $470 billion from January to August with an expert saying the annual bilateral trade is expected to hit a record high by the end of this year, surpassing $700 billion.

Following the devastation to supply chains in many countries caused by the coronavirus, China-US trade, involving the world's two largest economies, will drive the global economic recovery, Tian Yun, former vice director of the Beijing Economic Operation Association, told the Global Times on Tuesday. 

"It shows that China-US relations are coming into a mode of economic heat despite political coldness under the Biden administration. After the trade war and Trump era, bilateral relations in economy and trade have strengthened and picked up," he said. 

In the first eight months, China's exports to the US increased 33.3 percent year-on-year while its imports from the US jumped 48 percent in dollar terms, sending China's trade surplus with the US up 18.8 percent to $237.99 billion.

"Now bilateral relations are coming back to the age before the subprime mortgage crisis of the US in 2008 - China is churning out goods and exports to the US while the US adopts a helicopter drop," Tian said. 

This signals a strong recovery of China-US trade after the pain caused by the coronavirus, he added.

The two economies are highly complementary which could be reflected by the growing bilateral trade in the first seven months, Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson Gao Feng said on August 27.