February 12, 2014

Although there has been a surge in cattle imports for beef breeding and finishing, China's imports of live cattle dropped to 102,245 cattle in 2013, a decrease of 26,004  from 2012, according to China Customs data.

A listing of major feed lots published by China's agricultural ministry shows the bulk of China's cattle feed lots are concentrated in Hebei, Liaoning and Shandong provinces. Yet cows and cattle are also being farmed in increasing numbers in the less populous north-westerly regions of Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Gansu and Xinjiang - all of which also have large Muslim populations and a traditional demand for halal-compliant beef products.

Official documents from China's agricultural ministry regularly stress the need to cultivate a local animal husbandry sector, with dairy cows also marked as key to growing beef cattle numbers. In order to encourage the growth of beef and sheep farming in low-income rural areas, subsidies are also paid, though feed remains a challenge, judging from a recent circular from the China Animal Husbandry Association, which called for an urgent revival of domestic alfalfa production.

Demand for meat has seen imports of meat continue to surge with growth in China's beef and lamb imports in 2013 dwarfed growth in the pig trade – 259,000 tonnes of lamb represents an increase of 108.8% while beef imports totalled 294,000 tonnes in 2013, a massive increase of 379.3%. Pork imports totalled 584,000 tonnes, up 11.7%, according to China Customs data.

The national data is replicated in data from individual cities. The wealthy east coast port city of Ningbo, for instance, reported beef imports of 755.2 tonnes, worth US$3.06 million in 2013 - up 64.2% and 31.6% respectively. China's agricultural ministry claims to be the biggest market for New Zealand lamb, while Australia remains a key supplier of beef.

Trade in "livestock products",  including beef, lamb, pork and poultry totalled US$19.51 billion, up 30.9%. Exports in this category in 2013 amounted to US$6.52 billion, an on-year increase of 1.3%, meaning China recorded a trade deficit in livestock products of US$12.99 billion, an on-year increase of 53.4%. In 2012 China's imports were worth US$14.9 billion, an increase of 11.2%; and exports at US$6.44 billion, were up 7.4% on the previous year.

From January-December, China's import and export trade in agricultural products in general totalled US$186.69 billion, an increase of 6.2% on the previous year. With protein consumption rising alongside Chinese incomes, meat and milk are in favour; milk powder imports shot up 49.3% on-year to 864,000 tonnes in 2013. Imports of seafood, by contrast, grew more slowly, to US$8.64 billion, an increase of 8% on-year.

In a sign of growing demand for feed to fuel an ever-larger livestock industry, total cereal imports of 14.585 million tonnes rose 4.3% - worth US$5.1 billion and increase of 6.6% on-year. Meanwhile, soy imports rose 8.5% to 63.375 million tonnes, while imports of rapeseed - an increasingly important feed ingredient - totalled 3.662 million tonnes, up 25% on 2012.

Growth in trade of overall agricultural products halved at US$175.77 billion, trade in 2012 was up by 12.9%, compared to a 6.2% on-year increase in 2013 (US$186.69 billion total). Likewise, China's agricultural exports in 2013 grew faster than imports. At US$67.83 billion, exports increased 7.2% while imports at US$118.87 billion grew 5.7%. China is a key exporter of fruit, vegetables and processed seafood.