Following T. H. Chan, we consider the problem of approximation of a given rational fraction a/q by sums of several rational fractions a1/q1,…,an/qn with smaller denominators. We show that in the special cases of n=3 and n=4 and certain admissible ranges for the denominators q1,…,qn, one can improve a result of T. H. Chan by using a different approach.