The purchases of the unusually large volumes extend a surge in Chinese buying after the recent thaw in US-China trade relations. US President Donald Trump touted relations with China as “extremely strong” after a phone call with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Monday.

Trump said he had pressed Xi to accelerate and increase Beijing’s purchases of US goods during the call, and that the Chinese leader had “more or less agreed”.

One trader said China bought about 12 cargoes, while another estimated the volume at 10–15. Each cargo is about 60,000 to 65,000 metric tonnes.

All the cargoes are scheduled for January shipment from US Gulf Coast terminals and Pacific Northwest ports, the sources said on Wednesday.

The purchases come despite US soybeans being priced higher than Brazilian supplies.

China, which had largely shunned US soybeans for months amid a tense Washington–Beijing trade standoff, has stepped up purchases recently following late-October talks between the two countries’ leaders in South Korea.

State-run grain buyer COFCO has led the buying, booking nearly 2 million tonnes of US soybeans since late October, according to US department of agriculture data.

The recent deals still remain well below the 12 million tonnes of purchases announced by the White House.

However, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday Chinese purchases of American soybeans are “right on schedule,” citing an agreement for Beijing to buy 87.5 million tonnes of the US product over the next three and a half years.