Global Times - 07.08.2019

http://www.globaltimes.cn WEDNESDAY AUGUST 7, 2019

BUSINESS

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Address: The Global Times English Edition, 2 Jintai Xilu, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100026

By Xie Jun and Song Lin

Chinese companies are rushing to ex-

pand import channels as the nation’s

trade relationship with the US, which it

has relied heavily upon for the imports

of certain farm products, teeters on the

edge.

China took efforts to expand its im-

port channels long before the trade war

began, but the trade war has made the

need more urgent, especially in terms

of soybean imports, an agricultural ex-

pert told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Domestic companies halted pur-

chases of US agricultural products after

the US escalated the trade war by im-

posing fresh tariffs on Chinese goods,

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesper-

son Hua Chunying said on Tuesday.

US President Donald Trump said

Thursday that he will impose 10 per-

cent tariffs on another $300 billion

worth of Chinese goods, effective on

September 1.

“China hopes that the US can well

implement the consensus the two

countries reached during the G20

meeting in Osaka, keep its promises

and create the necessary conditions for

the two countries’ agricultural coopera-

tion,” Hua said.

Bai Ming, a deputy director of the

International Market Research Insti-

tute of the Chinese Ministry of Com-

merce, said that the US has again sent

an “adverse signal” to the China-US

trade talks.

“China has shown an active attitude

with the recent move to buy US farm

goods, but the US also needs to show

a positive attitude. But it hasn’t, if you

consider its recent tariff-hike threats.

What it did thwarted the proceedings

of the trade negotiations,” Bai told the

Global Times.

The Xinhua News Agency also pub-

lished a commentary, noting that the

US should be responsible for Chinese

companies’ decision to halt buying US

farm goods.

“The US has repeatedly broken its

promises, which will hurt other coun-

tries and the US itself in the end,” the

commentary noted.

Trade in farm products like soy-

beans has been a core issue in the trade

negotiations. Recently, many Chinese

companies were in the process of mak-

ing new purchases of US agricultural

products such as soybeans, cotton and

pork. Several deals had been reached

already, Ministry of Commerce spokes-

person Gao Feng disclosed on August

1.

The Xinhua commentary noted that

2.27 million tons of US soybeans were

shipped from the US to China between

the Osaka meeting and the end of July.

Unpredictable pressure

Jiao Shanwei, editor-in-chief of

cngrain.com, a website specializing in

grain news, said that in recent years

China has sought to broaden agricul-

tural import channels to reduce over-

dependence on certain countries, and

the trade war accelerated this process

as “China was compelled to find alter-

native trading partners within a short

period of time.”

To cope with the situation, China

has turned to new soybean trading part-

ners like Russia. Data provided by cus-

toms officials in Nanjing, capital of East

China’s Jiangsu Province, showed that

some 4,431.6 tons of Russian soybeans

were cleared by Chinese customs after

inspection and quarantine on Monday,

the first batch of Russian soybeans en-

tering China since Beijing approved

soybean imports from all parts of Rus-

sia in late July.

China imported 817,000 tons of

soybeans from Russia in 2018, up 64.7

percent year-on-year, Xinhua reported

on Tuesday.

A Chinese delegation is also set to

visit Argentina in August to inspect

soymeal crushing plants, Reuters re-

ported, citing Argentine government

and industry officials.

Such efforts, plus the fact that Chi-

na’s demand for soybean meal shrank

significantly after African swine fever

hit the country’s pig production, made

the country’s inelastic demand for US

soybeans shrink significantly, Jiao said.

He also noted that China used to

import about 90 percent of its corn

from the US. But now the bulk of corn

imports is coming from countries like

Ukraine.

The spread of the Belt and Road Ini-

tiative (BRI) also helps broaden the im-

port network of domestic companies.

Liu Dongmeng, vice-general man-

ager of Aiju Grain and Oil Industry

Group, told the Global Times on Tues-

day that the company has imported a

total of 75,000 tons of wheat and more

than 25,000 tons of edible oil from Ka-

zakhstan over the past two years. The

company transported all these imports

through China-Europe freight trains.

“Our company saw significant

growth in edible oil imports from Ka-

zakhstan over the past two years,” Liu

noted.

“As China improves its customs

clearance procedures, edible oil im-

ports from BRI markets are set to in-

crease further,” he said, adding that his

company may also expand the catego-

ries of farm imports from other coun-

tries and regions along the BRI routes.

China’s imports from BRI markets

surged by 20.9 percent year-on-year in

2018, customs data showed.

ECONOMY

China multiplies farm import channels

“The US also needs

to show a positive

attitude.”

Bai Ming

Deputy director of the International Market

Research Institute of the Chinese Ministry of

Commerce

 As trade war escalates, nation halts buying US agricultural products

Page Editor:

[email protected]

A combine harvester collects soybeans in the village of Khorol, Russia

File photo: VCG

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