China will send another purchasing mission to Europe, following in the footsteps of a delegation that visited the EU a few months ago and signed $15 billion in deals, Premier Wen Jiabao said in Prague yesterday.

Wen made the remarks at a press conference after a summit between China and the EU in the Czech Republic. The summit had earlier been postponed following French President Nicolas Sarkozy's meeting with the Dalai Lama in Poland last November while France held the rotating presidency of the 27-nation block.

In February, a Chinese business delegation skirted France and signed deals with other European countries. Wen's European trip earlier that month also excluded France.