February 14, 2012

China aims for more US agricultural venture

China is planning to pursue bigger collaboration with the US in food security, agricultural trade and joint research in agricultural science and technology, Agriculture Minister Han Changfu said Monday (Feb 13).

Han made the remarks to the official Xinhua news agency ahead of Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping's US visit this week.

In the interview, Han shared data on the bilateral trade that showed China running a trade deficit with the US in the agriculture sector.

In 2010, China imported US$18.6 billion worth of agricultural produce from the US, accounting for 13% of total US agricultural exports, Han said. China became the largest trade destination for US agricultural products that year.

In comparison, China exported US$5.8 billion worth of agricultural produce to the US, 12% of its total agricultural exports. The US is China's third-biggest agricultural export destination, Han said.

China is conducting an ongoing probe into US exports of distillers' dried grains, a corn-based animal feed. Han didn't mention the issue in the interview, and didn't elaborate on the areas of cooperation he hoped the two countries would pursue.