Opportunities abound for China, U.S. to expand agricultural trade, exec says

China is likely to import 30 million metric tons of soybeans from the United States during the 2025 marketing year — from Sept 1,2024, to Aug 31, 2025 — and the two countries have ample opportunities to expand agricultural cooperation, said a senior executive of the U.S. Soybean Export Council.

Janna Fritz, the council's vice-chair, said that China's demand for soybeans will continuously drive growth in the global soybean trade. China's total soybean imports, including those from the U.S., are expected to grow from 104.1 million tons in the 2025 marketing year to 138.3 million tons in the 2034 marketing year, she said.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's projection reports, the world's three major soybean exporters — the U.S., Brazil and Argentina — are expected to account for 90 percent of the global soybean trade by 2034. U.S. soybean exports are predicted to reach 58.1 million tons worldwide by that time.

Fritz said the cooperation between China and U.S. soybean businesses not only fosters economic growth for both countries, but also contributes to global food security and sustainable agriculture.

"We believe the economies of both countries are interconnected and there is significant potential for agricultural collaboration," she said.

China remains the largest export destination for U.S. soybeans, accounting for over half of the total U.S. exports in this category. The U.S. shipped 24.96 million tons of soybeans to China during its 2024 marketing year, according to the U.S. Soybean Export Council.

Anticipating U.S. trade policies toward China in the next phase, Fritz said that regardless of which administration is in office, the council looks forward to working with it to advance positive trade with Chinese and other global partners on behalf of the U.S. soybean industry.

"We expect that the newly elected leaders will usher in an era of global collaboration, trade and trust," she added.

China-U.S. trade grew 4.4 percent year-on-year to 4.01 trillion yuan ($556 billion) between January and October this year, accounting for 11.1 percent of China's total trade during this period, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

Wang Xuejun, a professor of economics at Nanjing Agricultural University in Jiangsu province, said, "As the world's largest importer of agricultural products, China is a primary market for U.S. agricultural exports and a major buyer of U.S. commodities including soybeans, corn and cotton."

Li Guoxiang, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Rural Development Institute, emphasized that stable China-U.S. economic and trade relations could benefit consumers and businesses in both countries.

Importing agricultural products could enable China to manage market volatility and maintain steady domestic food prices amid global climate change and geopolitical fluctuations, Li said.

Liu Chang, vice-president of Cargill Investments (China), a country branch of U.S. agricultural conglomerate Cargill Inc, said that driven by China's push for high-quality growth, the innovation and advanced productivity within the industrial and supply chains have become key factors in promoting the transformation of the agricultural industry.