Weinberger visits China's premier

Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger met Tuesday with Premier Zhao Ziyang, who said China may consider buying US arms and that he hopes President Reagan will visit Peking next spring.

Speaking to reporters before his meeting with Mr. Weinberger, Mr. Zhao said there ''has been a trend for the better in Sino-US relations recently, and this is something to be welcomed.''

Asked if Peking was interested in buying US arms, Zhao said, ''I would not exclude such a possibility.'' But he added that China would rely ''chiefly on its own efforts to modernize our defense.'' He said that Taiwan was still the ''main obstacle'' in US-China relations and that he planned to raise the issue of US arms sales to Taiwan with Weinberger.

At the United Nations, China Foreign Minister Wu Xueqian gave a speech to the General Assembly, questioning ''the sincerity for disarmament'' of the US and Soviet Union as their arms race intensifies. He praised the ''massive peace movement'' that has emerged in some countries and opposed ''the superpowers' attempt to involve Central America in their rivalry.''

In Washington, Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige said a new China trade policy that could sharply increase US technology exports to China was nearly complete. Mr. Baldrige said details would be made available after clearance with US allies.