China's Vice-Premier Wang Yang and his delegation of officials are in the United States this week for the annual US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) which takes place in Chicago.

In conjunction with JCCT, six Chinese companies had signed a series of deals earlier this week to purchase more than one million tonnes of soybeans from the United States. The six buyers are COFCO, Sinograin Oil Corp, Yihai Kerry Group, Chinatex Grains & Oils, Yuntianhua USA Inc and Jiusan USA Inc.
 

According to traders at the ceremony, the purchases are for delivery to China in 2015. Some of the deals are also signed as "frame contracts" where price and shipping terms areto be confirmed at a later date.