US officials cautioned over expectations of a substantial rise in Chinese soybean imports, citing the high stocks of the oilseed already bought, amid market questions over a slow pace of US export orders. The US Department of Agriculture Beijing bureau pegged at 92.5m tonnes soybean imports by China, the world top buyer, in 2017-18 on an October-to-September basis. While a rise of 1.5m tonnes year on year, and representing a record high, the forecast is well below the USDA official forecast of 94.0m tonnes.