U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters expects the United States and China to enact an expanded air service agreement

by the end of the year, possibly resembling the recent U.S.-European Union open skies deal, according to Reuters. During a speech in China yesterday, Peters noted that "total two-way commerce between China and the United States rose to a record $343 billion in 2006," and that air passenger totals last year doubled from 2003 levels. As part of a July 2004 agreement, the two countries mapped out a five-fold increase in air services by the end of the decade.