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Mr Huang said that he wished to invite Dr Owen and his wife to visit China at a time convenient to them. He could guarantee them a warm reception. through the Embassies. definitely. As he had said at the welcoming dinner, no invitation would give him greater pleasure. As for dates, Easter was probably the earliest that he could manage. Perhaps they could keep March or April in mind for planning purposes. He would certainly not
He suggested that dates could be discussed Dr Owen said he accepted firmly and
be able to go before the New Year. But he agreed the dates could be discussed later.
Both
18.
Mr Huang said that he would like to raise two points which had been touched on in his talks with Mr Varley and Mr Healey. China had adopted plans for the modernisation of its economy by the turn of the century and had more detailed plans for the years up to 1985. They were now attempting to achieve the targets set. sides had signed a number of contracts for trade and technical co-operation. In implementing its plans, China would rely mainly on its own efforts, but at the same time it needed to import advanced technology and equipment and leam from foreign countries. It would therefore be necessary to increase both exports and imports substantially and aim at a balance in trade. This would enable China to put its trade relations and its economic and technological co-operation with other countries on a reliable, steady and solid basis. Both sides needed to study ways and means of achieving this, and must be more flexible. They should look for other ways besides normal international trading practices. One such way was compensation trade. This benefitted both sides and was conducive to balanced trade. China had already begun this with Japan, Romania, Yugoslavia, and some other countries. They were now discussing it with some British firms. He merely wished to touch on the subject here to draw Dr Owen's attention to it.
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Dr Owen said that the question of trade adjustment was an important issue. It was not so easy for the UK as for countries with state trading systems: but sometimes private companies could arrange something themselves. Britain could certainly help with credit: there was no problem over this. He asked about China's potential for supplying minerals. For example the UK was dependent on Southern Africa for a range of minerals and we were anxious to diversify our sources of supply. He wondered if we knew enough about China's capacity to meet these needs. Mr Huang said that he was unable to go into detailed figures but in general China was rich in oil, coal, hydro-electric power, iron ore, copper, bauxite, aluminium, zinc, tin, antimony and other metals. Dr Owen said that he hoped Mr Cradock would be able to pursue this question in Peking. He was interested particularly in specialised minerals such as vanadium and manganese. The quantities needed were not large but they were important for an industrialised country like the
/UK.
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