Prospects for Food Exports to China

Abstract

The Russian economy is now closely linked and largely depends on the existing relationships with other countries. Devaluation of the ruble in 2014 and subsequent decline in living standards contribute to contraction of demand in almost all consumer markets in the country. However, this may be an impetus to development of industries which products are potentially interesting for export to other countries, in particular, to China. Despite the slowdown in growth, China’s economy remains one of the fastest growing economies in the world, which significantly affects the welfare of the country’s population. An important trend has been urbanization of the population during recent decades. In accordance with this, the consumer habits and interests of the Chinese population have changed: the demand for Western, non-traditional food products is growing, e-commerce is developing, consumers are becoming more demanding about the quality and characteristics of food. At the same time, food exports from Russia to China are increasing. Active growth of supplies is observed for frozen fish and seafoods, seeds of oil crops, vegetable oil of various kinds, confectionery, chocolate products, and other products. The Chinese food market is extremely capacious and promising for Russian producers. However, the development of trade in this area is hampered by restrictions still remaining on supply of agricultural products to the export market. Russian producers will need a lot of efforts in order to take a strong position on the largest food market in the world.