USDA SEES CHINA AS BIGGER MARKET

January 4, 2002

China's membership in the World Trade Organization will spur the world's largest nation to import more wheat, soybeans, vegetable oils and cotton, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says in a new report. New pressure from world competition and changing preference among Chinese consumers will bring about changes, the report says.

To maintain and expand its emerging livestock and edible oils industries, China will need to import more soybeans. Already, soybean imports reached a record 13.2 million tons in 2000/01.

The report also notes that the Chinese government is moving away from past grain policies that emphasized quality over quantity. And USDA estimates the Chinese economy expanded 8% in 2000, making it one of the world's fastest growing economies.

The report is entitled China: Agriculture in Transition and is available at http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/wrs012/.