Why is the US -China Agricultural Symposium important for American farmers?

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping is in Des Moines Iowa for the first ever US-China Agricultural Symposium. This is an important step in strengthening the agricultural trade relationship between the US and China.

There are 1.3 billion people, or 20% of the world’s population, living in China. The country’s economy is growing at about 8% a year and its emerging middle class is putting significant demands on the worldwide agricultural industry.

Deeping its trade relationship with China is important for the US. As of 2010, China became the largest buyer of U.S. farm products and last year boosted purchases to $22.17 billion, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data shows.

China purchased 20.6 million metric tons of soybeans from the U.S. in 2011, or 60% of the total shipped overseas. The USDA predicts that Chinese soybean imports will rise by 59% to 90 million tones by 2021, from a projected 55.5 million this year.

American soybean farmers were pleased yesterday as China signed agreements to increase their soybean imports from the US by 8.62 million metric tons of the oilseed in a deal valued at $4.3 billion. Soybeans will be supplied by companies including Cargill Inc., Archer Daniels Midland Co., Bunge Ltd. and CHS Inc.

“China has become a very, very significant market for export opportunities for us, particularly playing to the strengths of the Midwest in corn and soybean production as well as pork production,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.

Today at the symposium discussions between the two countries will continue concerning sustainable agriculture, food security, food safety and the role of the private sector in agriculture in the United States and China.

What do you think? Do you support strengthening our agricultural trade relationship with China? Join the discussion at TheStockEnthusiast.com!