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At a time when the geopolitical atmosphere is becoming more and more tense, the warm wind of agriculture in China and the United States has brought a mild spring to the relationship between the two major economies.
According to the South China Morning Post, farmers in the United States are experiencing an increase in sales to China and are hopefully looking forward to more orders. This signal means that even if there are political differences, economic and cooperation can still be a bridge between the two countries.
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Last November, with the historic meeting between the Chinese and U.S. heads of state in San Francisco, there was a bright spot in agricultural cooperation between the two countries: a soybean producer in the US state of Iowa signed a multibillion-dollar contract with China to buy and sell soybeans. The agreement marks the largest agri-product activity since 2017, including a sales order for more than 3 million tonnes, demonstrating China's strong purchasing power for U.S. soybeans and an important development in bilateral cooperation since tensions between the two sides.
The figures for the 2023-2024 marketing year also give an optimistic outlook. While China ordered 20.2 million tonnes of U.S. soybeans, slightly less than the 27.2 million tonnes in the same period last year, China's total soybean imports from January to December 2023 have surged to 9,94090,000 tons, up from 8,921 in 202280,000 tons, an increase of 114%, indicating strong demand for U.S. soybeans in the Chinese market.
U.S.-China cooperation in agriculture has become a cornerstone of the relationship. U.S. Ambassador to China Burns has likened agriculture to a "ballast stone" that has played a stabilizing role in the complex relationship between the two sides. This not only reflects the fact that agriculture has been the bellwether of cooperation between the two countries for many years, but also indicates that agriculture may become the basis for rebuilding trust between the two sides in the future.
Recently, the seventh meeting of the China-US Joint Committee on Agriculture was successfully held, which became another bright spot in the history of cooperation between the two countries. At this meeting, the two sides not only reaffirmed their commitment to agricultural cooperation, but also conducted in-depth exchanges on key issues such as climate-smart agriculture and food security. This progress has shown the world a positive signal that even if there are some differences in the relationship between the two countries, the door to cooperation remains open, and the two sides have never stopped trying to find common ground on issues of mutual concern.
Since China joined the WTO in 2001, it has been a significant buyer of U.S. agricultural products. Even against the backdrop of 2018 frictions, China's demand for U.S. soybeans has not diminished, as evidenced by the sharp increase in imports in 2020-2021. And 55% of U.S. soybean exports go to China, as well as record pork and beef imports, underscore the deep dependence of both countries on agriculture.
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Professor Zhang Wendong emphasized that agriculture is one of the "relatively consistent" areas of cooperation between China and the United States, and that the United States can further explore the Chinese market by expanding its product portfolio, such as dairy products, fruits, vegetables, wines and spirits. In addition, the development of climate-smart agriculture will be a new area of cooperation between the two sides.
Greg Taylor, the U.S. Poultry and Egg Export Council, called for the importance of maintaining normalisation and stressed the complementarity of the two markets. He said that the U.S. agricultural community is very dependent on the Chinese market and hopes to see a full recovery of the market.
In the context of Sino-US relations, the recovery and growth of agriculture is not only related to economic interests, but also a symbol of mutual trust and cooperation between the two countries. Looking to the future, the stability and development of agriculture between China and the United States is expected to become a positive driving force in the relations between the two countries and bring tangible benefits to the people of the two countries.