There's a growing public awareness of the size of investment between China and the US, as well as greater coverage in the US about trade between the world's two largest economies, according to a panel of financial experts.

"Today the New York Post had two mentions of China that are very prominent," Keith Danko, a founding member of New Jersey-based Witherspoon Consulting Partners LLC, said on Monday. "Right on the second page an article about Chinese tourism increasing here in New York City says: 'the city's most coveted tourists hail from China and the number of tourists from China jumped 19 percent in just the last year'.

"The fact that information on China is finding its way into the papers tells you that the consciousness of the public is very well aware of what's happening," he said. And the dissemination of information on business between the US and China is changing perceptions about the trading partnership.

Danko served as moderator for a discussion on bilateral trade relations between the US and China, hosted by the Yingke Law firm at the Harvard Club in New York on Monday.

Most of the panelists at Monday's forum were upbeat about the prospects for trade between China and the US.

Key to the trade relationship is the notion of trust, according to Dan Dement, director and principal at the equity management firm of Los Angeles Capital.

"We have similar goals in terms of our businesses," Dement said.

Jerry Bratkovich, a managing director at the human capital management firm ZRG Partners Inc and a panelist, said successful investing boils down to one simple question: "What type of investor are you?"

"Are you an economic investor looking to play the odds, or are you a strategic investor that wants to put money into something that will grow?" Bratkovich said.

jackfreifelder@chinadailyusa.com