China signed contracts worth US$320 million with the United States on Monday (local time) to import more aluminium.

The deal signed in Houston is expected to quench China's thirst for the lightweight material and further help balance bilateral trade.

The contracts were signed between a Chinese mission, organized by the Chamber of Commerce for Imports and Exports of Minerals and Chemical Products, and US Gerald Metals Inc and Sherwin Co.

Under the contracts, China will import 1.08 million tons of US aluminium in the coming years.

With the world's fastest-growing economy, China's demand for aluminium is great, said Ma Minxiu, assistant president of the Aluminium Corp of China, the nation's biggest producer.

"China needs to import 5.5 to 5.7 million tons of aluminium in 2004 to ensure its economic development,'' Ma predicted.

The shortage is not likely to end until 2007, industry observers have suggested.

A Chinese government economic and trade delegation, headed by Vice-minister of Commerce Liao Xiaoqi, attended a signing ceremony for the latest purchase. The deal follows a series of contracts totalling US$500 million on China's import of fertilizers from the US, inked last Friday in Tampa, Florida.

Another set of contracts for US$1.59 billion soybean and electro-mechanical equipment were signed last Thursday.

In total, the Chinese mission has committed to purchasing US$2.4 billion worth of goods in the US.

The purchasing delegation is the second in four weeks.

An earlier purchasing group signed more than US$6 billion of orders including Boeing planes, General Electric aircraft engines, and General Motors and Ford cars and auto components.

The Chinese Government has gone on record encouraging businesses to boost US exports and has said Sino-US trade has produces tangible economic benefits.

The growing number of deals with US companies shows China's efforts to balance trade between the two countries, Liao said during a signing ceremony marking the latest aluminium deal.

To help that process, however, the US should boost its exports rather than put barriers on Chinese imports, the minister was quoted as saying by the China News Service.

At the same time, the deals further agreements between leaders of both countries to strengthen economic and trade ties, he said.

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