December 12, 2005

China's grain sector might benefit from trade reform
 

China's grain sector might benefit from any trade reform brought about by the current Doha round of World Trade Organization talks, said Achim Fock, a senior agricultural economist with the World Bank in China.

Fock said that if the talks succeeded in reducing agricultural tariffs and subsidies among WTO members, Chinese grain producers would benefit from it.

China, along with Brazil and India, has offered greater access to industrial goods and services in return for the US, Japan and the EU to lower their agricultural subsidies and tariffs.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said that China should focus less on grain self-sufficiency by increasing grain imports, and allow farmers to grow more fruit and vegetables, where China has a competitive advantage.

However, Sun Dongsheng, an economist at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said developed countries might use other ways to restrict agricultural imports from China and other developing nations, even if the WTO talks in Hong Kong were successful.

Sun explained that developed countries might restrict such imports based on issues such as animal and plant quarantine, quality and food safety.