WASHINGTON, Aug 26 (Reuters) - New Chinese regulations will not hinderthe country's imports of American soybeans and other commodities, the Bushadministration said on Thursday following a meeting with a Chineseofficial."The assurances provided by the government of China today should helpalleviate the concerns of farmers and exporters as they prepare for thefall harvest and shipping season," said Allen Johnson, the top U.S.agriculture trade negotiator.China is a vast market for U.S. and South American soybeans. In 2003,the United States shipped almost $2.9 billion worth of soybeans to Chinaand Hong Kong, making it the largest export crop.Johnson and U.S. Agriculture Undersecretary J.B. Penn met on Thursdaywith acting Chinese Ambasssador Lan Lijun about the import regulationdealing with inspection permits that American officials said inhibitedsoybean trade.According to a U.S. government statement, China said the new regulationwas intended to extend the validity of quarantine inspection permits tosix months from three months "and would not interfere with U.S. exports ofsoybeans to China."Soybean trade with Brazil and Argentina has been disrupted in recentmonths because of Chinese concerns about a fungicide called carboxin.In past years, U.S. soybean exports have been interrupted by unclearrules pertaining to genetically-modified crops, such as American-grownsoybeans.