A US trade official expressed frustration on Tuesday at what he called China's habit of responding to US trade complaints by making huge purchases of American goods.
The official, who spoke to reporters on the condition he not be identified, said the high-profile buying missions -- like one on Tuesday to purchase US$2.3 billion worth of US telecommunications and computer equipment -- were at odds with US desires to see China become a fully market-based economy.
"The issue is the system. The point is, in some respects, it's even more dangerous when you have a huge blip in exports and all of sudden next year, there isn't that buying mission and it drops," the official told reporters.
China has responded to complaints about its pegged exchange rate and an estimated US$125 billion trade surplus with the US by going on a buying spree since November.
It has filled its shopping cart with American goods ranging from Boeing aircraft to wheat, including a purchase of 1.04 million tonnes announced on Tuesday.
However, a key US objective of Beijing's entry into the WTO in 2001 was to move China to a system where trade is based strictly on market factors.
Whatever private misgivings US officials may have about China's buying missions, Commerce Secretary Don Evans hailed the contracts signed by Motorola, Lucent, Intel and other firms on Tuesday.
"This is a monumental event that represents further strengthening of the US-China trade relations," Evans said.
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