CHINA: A senior trade official on a...

CHINA: A senior trade official on a buying mission to the United States said last week that his delegation has spent $465 million of about $1 billion it expects to commit on its three-week tour. The mission, a bid to reverse a drop in China’s imports from the United States, coincides with congressional debate over President Bush’s proposal this week to renew most-favored-nation status for China. Sun Zhenyu, director general of China’s Trade Ministry, said the mission’s goal was to increase contact with customers and “particularly prevent the further decline of our imports from the United States.” China’s trade with the United States reached $20 billion in 1990. But exports have vastly outpaced imports the past several years.