Transformation of China's Agricultural Trade in Response to Emerging Tensions on the Global Market

Abstract

China has worked to ensure future food self-sufficiency, but still depends on the imports of many kinds of agricultural products. Imports grow as domestic demand is restructured in favor of qualitative food products of high nutrient value amid the progressive degradation of agricultural lands, and shrinking possibilities for agricultural production. Currently, the majority of such value-added food products is imported from the USA. By raising import tariffs in response to the recent US protectionist policies, China may face a situation of food insecurity. This chapter reviews the recent tendencies in China's foreign trade in food and agricultural products, analyses food security status of China on major kinds of agricultural commodities, discusses current US-China trade relations and reorientation of China's foreign trade in food and agricultural products, and provides possible solutions to the improvement of food security by means of intensification of domestic agricultural production and diversification of imports.