China wants to deepen its trade ties with the Midwest, and St. Louis seems like a logical place to start, that nation's top Midwestern diplomat told local business leaders Tuesday.

Ping Huang, China's Consulate General in Chicago, told a crowd at St. Louis University that his nation is trying to move beyond the coastal United States and strengthen its economic and cultural relations in the country's midsection.

"People in China don't know much about the Midwest," Ping said. "And people here in the Midwest need to know more about China."

Ping's comments came as talks continue about developing an Air China cargo hub at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. Those talks kicked off with a series of trade delegations this spring, and moved forward shortly after the close of the Olympics, when China's aviation ministry said it would launch a formal study of the prospect of Lambert as a cargo hub.

"That was the next step we've been waiting for," said Tim Nowak, executive director of the World Trade Center St. Louis, which sponsored the event for local companies that want to do more business in China.

Business and government officials here hope that an air cargo hub can boost trade of a range of goods in both directions across the Pacific.

While imports from China still far exceed exports to China, exports are growing faster. Missouri and Illinois companies sent a combined $3 billion in goods to China last year, according to the US-China Business Council, up from $1 billion in 2003.

Today, much of that is in large bulk products such as scrap metal and minerals. But, increasingly, experts say, it will be in advanced farming and factory equipment and in food and other luxury goods for China's booming middle class.

Many of those goods are made in the Midwest. To gain better access to them, Ping said, the nation needs a distribution center. And St. Louis, where Ping has visited six times in the last year, is a logical candidate. But there are challenges.

"St. Louis could be a very good choice," he said. "The problem is, because people in China don't know about the Midwest, you have to convince them that St. Louis is a better choice than Chicago."