China's Vice Premier Wu Yi is heading a large squad of businessmen and economic officials on a shopping spree tour in the United States, in the hope to cool a rising protectionist sentiment in the US Congress, the New York Times reported.

The Chinese buying team is expected to order US goods at an estimated gross value of US$15 billion, sources said.

The buying mission, deemed the largest Beijing has assembled since reestablishing diplomatic relations with the United States in late 1979, indicates Chinese government's eagerness to improve economic and political relations with Washington, and is also believed to pave way for the first ever visit to the White House by President Hu Jintao later this month, the newspaper quoted analysts as saying.

More than 100 business executives joined Madame Wu Yi, an economic trouble-shooter, on an American tour that began Tuesday in Hawaii and is scheduled to cover a total of 13 states. The trip is expected to result in multibillion-dollar orders for Boeing aircraft, auto parts, computer software, telecommunications equipment, grain, cotton and soybeans and other products, Chinese officials and media reports said.

Wu said China expects some trade friction with the United States but views stable economic ties as crucial.

Washington and Beijing should resolve disputes in a spirit of "objectivity, equality and consultation and avoid politicizing economic and trade issues," the Xinhua News Agency quoted Vice Premier Wu Yi as saying at a signing ceremony in Los Angeles.

At the ceremony, an array of procurement contracts worth 4.44 billion U.S. dollars were signed, involving 27 projects, ranging from software, power generation equipment to automobiles and electronic products.

She said a mutually beneficial trade relationship is crucial for overall China-U.S. relations, though some friction is to be expected.

 A senior Chinese foreign ministry official described the latest buying mission as "very big," and noted that it included representatives from a wide range of state-owned and private businesses who do not typically travel with senior Chinese leaders.

"We do want to show the United States that trading ties are mutually beneficial and we hope people will take notice," said the senior foreign ministry official, who do not want to be identified by name. "Our message is that common interests are on the increase and the basis of the bilateral relationship is being constantly strengthened."

President Hu Jintao will visit the United States from April 18-22, his first trip to the White House since becoming China's Communist Party chief in 2002 and president in 2003. Chinese officials are eager to ensure a positive reception for Mr. Hu and to demonstrate that he can keep China's most delicate and important diplomatic relationship on an even keel, said the New York Times.

China last year piled up a $200 billion dollar trade surplus with the United States, according to official US trade figures. The deficit has triggered Congressional proposals to impose tariffs on Chinese imports unless Beijing moves faster to raise the value of its currency, the yuan.
China has ruled out any sudden one-off shifts in its currency policy, insisting that it will move steadily, but gradually, toward a market-driven exchange rate. Lately, the yuan has quickened its pace of appreciation, and is climbing to the benchmark 1:8 dollar vs yuan rate.

Officials here have signaled a willingness to do more to protect intellectual property rights, a perennial sore point with American companies. They have publicized fines imposed on Chinese companies that use pirated software. They may also commit to purchases of American software for government computers, the paper said.

The biggest action is on the trade front, with China expected to order at least 80 new Boeing aircraft, mostly single-aisle 737 models, official media reported. It could also commit to unprecedented purchases of agricultural commodities and cutting-edge telecom equipment needed to upgrade its fixed-line and mobile phone networks.

The foreign ministry official said the trade delegation, which also includes representatives of a dozen government ministries, is hoping to establish long-term ties with companies in the American heartland to promote sustaining imports in the future.

"We would like to emphasize that this is not a one-off," the official said.

The effort to ease trade tensions comes despite the fact that Chinese officials and some independent analysts argue that the current economic relationship, even with the large bilateral deficit, strongly favors the United States, the New York Times said.

Chinese officials point out that China is now American's fourth largest export market, with United States exports to China expanding at a 21.5 percent annual pace since 2001.

Officials have also cited academic studies showing that if inexpensive goods from China were not available, American business and consumers would have had to pay up to $100 billion more for the same products made elsewhere. They also say that much of the profit from manufacturing in China goes to American and other foreign companies and patent holders who assemble goods and license technology in China.

"The general feeling here is that the trade deficit does not really come at the US expense," said, an international relations expert at Beijing University. "The US makes money at every stage of Chinese production."

Editor: Yan