U.S.-China trade hit a record $6.1 billion in 1984.

Chinese officials said the trade volume was 50.6% higher than the previous year. China’s exports to the United States totaled $2.3 billion and its imports amounted to $3.8 billion, leaving China with a $1.5-billion trade deficit, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade said. U.S. Embassy sources confirmed the $6.1-billion trade figure but disputed the Chinese deficit calculation, saying American estimates show the two-way trade was roughly balanced at $3 billion for each side. “This is somewhat of a game that they’re playing to deliberately distort the figures to show a (U.S.) surplus,” a senior Western diplomat said. Peking will use the trade deficit, the diplomat said, as a pressure tactic in attempts to extract concessions from Washington in talks over textiles and other trade negotiations.