Trade team heads to EU for big deals

A high-level business delegation heads to Europe today to sign deals potentially worth billions of dollars on a "wide range of buying interests".

Some media reports put the price tag at 15 billion yuan ($2.2 billion) while others believe that the figure could be considerably higher - but Ministry of Commerce (MOC) officials said there was no way to arrive at an amount before the contracts were actually signed.

The business delegation led by Minister of Commerce Chen Deming is seen as being on a mission to strengthen China-Europe trade ties prior to President Hu Jintao's trip to the G20 Summit, to be held in London in April.