Trade frictions cannot smear economic and trade relations between China and the United States, and bilateral ties have been "fairly good" and "mutually beneficial", a senior official with China's Ministry of Commerce has said.

Home prices in 70 major Chinese cities rose 0.3 percent month on month in December and 6.4 percent year on year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday.

Construction of government-subsidized apartments accelerated in 2010, as part of a major effort to curb soaring property prices and provide housing for low-income earners. 

Construction of the capital's second airport is likely to start this year, a year later than the civil aviation industry had expected.

China's trade surplus narrowed in 2010 for the second straight year - helped by increased domestic demand - and the trend is expected to continue for the first half of 2011, economists said.