China plans 10-billion-dollar shopping spree to shrink trade surplus

BEIJING - Up to 30 large Chinese firms are expected to buy foreign products worth as much as 10 billion dollars at a sourcing fair as the nation seeks to curb its yawning trade surplus, state press said Wednesday.

The International Sourcing Fair, slated for September 25 to 27 in Shanghai, is another step taken by China to secure a more balanced trade environment, the China Daily reported, citing Vice Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng.

China's trade surplus roughly doubled in the first three months of the year to 46.4 billion dollars, despite successive moves to reduce export tax incentives while making imports easier and more attractive.

"Our efforts to facilitate imports will work and China will make substantial progress in achieving more balanced trade," Gao said.

China has been keen to prove its commitment to ease trade tensions with its major trading partners like the United States but officials stressed it takes time for government measures to have an effect.

"The surplus, which resulted from the global industrial structure, is likely to remain for some time," Gao said.

State media reported earlier that China is likely to ink import deals valued at up to 12 billion dollars with the US companies during a high-profile bilateral strategic economic dialogue in the United States in May.

Agence France-Presse