China is the world's leading producer and consumer of various agricultural commodities, and it is one of the top U.S. trading partners in agricultural products. China’s growth in agricultural production, rising living standards, and evolving agricultural policies make it one of the most dynamic participants in global agricultural markets.

ERS provides research, analysis, and information on China's agricultural policy, outlook, and trade. ERS reports include overviews of China’s agricultural trade and policies, in-depth analysis of particular commodities, food safety issues, consumer demand, and production challenges.

Recent Trends in China's Agricultural Economy

• Soybeans are China’s top agricultural import, and the United States and Brazil are the main exporters. The historical development and changes in soybean trade after China imposed retaliatory tariffs in 2018 are analyzed in Interdependence of China, United States, and Brazil in Soybean Trade, June 2019.
• China is already the world’s top meat importer, and consumption is growing despite rising meat prices in China and slower income growth. Statistical models confirm that China’s meat consumption is relatively insensitive to price changes (see China’s Meat Consumption: Growth Potential, July 2023).
• The United States exported more than $37 billion of agricultural products to China in 2021. Analysis of pork, beef, wheat, and corn trade suggests that U.S. exports could be larger if China removed nontariff barriers (see China's Import Potential for Beef, Corn, Pork, and Wheat, August 2022). Complying with China’s evolving food standards and regulations is one of the challenges for exporters aspiring to sell in China’s growing market (see China's Refusals of Food Imports, March 2021)
• A profile of applicants for China’s import quotas reveals the potential demand for imported wheat (see Cracking Open China’s Wheat Import Quota, December 2021).
• China is the world's largest textile manufacturer and cotton consumer. Nearly all of China’s cotton is produced in the Xinjiang region, while importers are concentrated in coastal and central regions. U.S. cotton exports are gradually shifting to other countries (see Chinese Cotton: Textiles, Imports, and Xinjiang, August 2022).
• China’s dairy and infant formula markets have grown substantially over the past decade and are expected to continue to expand. At the same time, China’s domestic dairy industry is rapidly modernizing. An ERS report examined trends in China’s dairy consumption, production, and trade (see China's Dairy Supply and Demand, December 2017).
• Encouraging Chinese companies to invest in global supply chains for the country’s imports is one of China’s strategies to gain control over its food imports (see China's Foreign Agriculture Investments, April 2018).
• The demand for imported feed ingredients to support a growing livestock sector has played an important role in lowering tariffs and other barriers to U.S. imports in China (see Development of China's Feed Industry and Demand for Imported Commodities, November 2015).
• China’s loss of 27.9 million metric tons of pork output during African swine fever outbreaks led to a record-high volume of pork imports (see How China’s African Swine Fever Outbreaks Affected Global Pork Markets, November 2023). Productivity improvements are a priority for China’s livestock producers (see China's Pork Imports Rise Along with Production Costs, January 2017; and “China as Dairy Importer: Rising Milk Prices and Production Costs,” International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 2016).

More readings on China are available here