October 28, 2013

Fuelled by cheap foreign imports, China has been buying up to 80% of soy from countries including the US, Brazil and Argentina, of which most are genetically modified (GM).

Costing far less than domestically grown crops, and of greater quality, the GM variety is rendering non-GM Chinese soy unviable.

Liaoning province is in the country's soy basin, and the impacts of GM imports are being felt. Despite low selling prices for farmers, domestically grown soy still cannot compete with cheaper imported GM products.

Chen Chunguang, chief of the province's Agriculture Section of Rural Economic Commission, said local oil manufacturers prefer US soy because of their high quality, even in large amounts.

Unable to compete with GM imports, soy planting quotas are falling. In 2012, China imported almost 59 million tonnes of soy. Domestically the country produced only 13 million tonnes.

In Liaoning, just 12,000 hectares were planted this year, down from 40,000 hectares in 2008. And it is a situation being compounded by the trend for farmers to abandon soy in favour of other crops like peanuts. Planting dropped by 30% last year in Heilongjiang Province. In Jilin it was 31% and in some areas, it has dropped by as much as 70%.

Soy imports into China are only subject toa 3% tariff. There is also no quota on how much can be brought in. In June, China's Ministry of Agriculture approved another three GM soy import. They join the eleven already given the green light. Experts say the Chinese soy is in the fight of its life.

Overall, they say China must reduce its reliance on imported GM soy. If current trends continue, government and enterprise may be forced to start plugging domestic soy, and the products they make, in order to boost brand awareness.