July 14, 2017

Chinese firms ink US$5B soybean, meat import contracts with US counterparts

Around 20 Chinese and US enterprises signed Thursday, July 13, agricultural transaction contracts worth $5.012 billion, under which Chinese enterprises will import 12.53 million tonnes of soybean and 371 tonnes of pork and beef from the US companies.

Nearly 100 officials and enterprise representatives from China and the US attended the signing ceremony held in Des Moines, Iowa, Chinese state-owned news agency Xinhua reported.

Last month, China accepted the first shipment of beef from the US in 14 years, fulfilling China's pledge on the US-China "100-day action plan" to boost bilateral economic ties.

Statistics showed that trade volume between China and US reached 519.6 billion yuan (US$76.6 billion) last year, 211 times the amount when the two countries forged diplomatic ties. In 2006-2015, US goods exports to China grew 114 percent. US now has 56% of soybean exports and 15% of agricultural products exports.

US soybean shiploads destined for China in the 2016-2017 crop year was 33.79 million tonnes by May 11, 2017, higher than the 26.747 million tonnes reported in the same period of last year, or up 32.2%.

Next week an all-agricultural trade delegation from the US will visit China. The China Chamber of Commerce of Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-Products (CCCFNA) organised this event in cooperation with the US Soybean Export Council.

CCCFNA President Bian Zhenhu expressed confidence in the prospects of Sino-US cooperation in agricultural products. "As consumption in China upgrades, and the trade environment created by the two countries grows better, the potentials of cooperation between the two countries will be huge," he told Xinhua.