CHINA WANTS TO BUY 5,000 TONNES PAKISTANI COTTON
  China is negotiating with Pakistan to
  buy 5,000 tonnes of cotton this year, after importing the same
  amount last year under a barter agreement, Chinese consulate
  sources said.
      Chinese ambassador Tian Ding told a meeting of Pakistani
  industrialists on Thursday that China intended to increase
  imports from Pakistan to reduce a trade imbalance.
      Pakistani officials estimate the country's cotton output
  from the current crop at a record 7.6 mln bales (375 pounds
  each). Last year's output totalled 7.2 mln bales and domestic
  consumption was just below three mln bales, they said.
  

