In Depth

China's farm imports outpace exports

  • Published 14 Jan 2010

Trade deficit in farm goods to continue to grow in China over the next five years as imports outpace exports.

China is a natural importer of many agricultural products. Urbanisation is gobbling up farm land. Water is in short supply throughout much of the area north of the Yangtze river and the cost of several other farm inputs is also rising. On the demand side, rising levels of wealth and a shift towards higher protein diets is combining with a growing middle class insistence on healthy, quality foods. All this adds up to manifold opportunities for companies that export farm goods to China stretching decades into the future. Consider, for example, that the consumption of vegetable oil in China was only 7.54kg per capita in 2005, compared with Japan's 14.19kg, Korea's 14.84kg, and the US's 31.87kg.

Issue icon

Latest Issue

12 Jan 2012

Browse the archive

Get two weeks free trial Subscribe now to access all of China Confidential

China Confidential Funds

China Confidential Funds, a new research service launched by FT China Confidential, is dedicated to illuminating the mainland fund industry. Our team of fund industry experts in Shanghai search out the interesting trends in fund performance, strategy, interactions with overseas funds, regulatory changes, distribution and management. We also use a proprietary system to track the emerging flows of Chinese money. Click here to find out more.

Find out more