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China`s agricultural outlook 2016

China`s agricultural outlook 2016

Chinese policymakers have always considered the agricultural sector to be central to the structural transformation of China’s unbalanced economy and to long-term goals of maintaining social harmony and achieving “all-round moderate prosperity”. China today accounts for about 19 percent of the global population, yet has just 8 percent of its arable land. And unlike other countries with growing populations, there’s no land left to till; indeed, given years of chemical abuse in the countryside and industrial pollution that sowed heavy metals through rice paddies, China’s available farmland is actually shrinking.

 

 

A large and growing metropolitan population expect greater quality of product, security of supply and to have confidence in the safety of the food they consume. This urban population demand a world-class agricultural sector with strong links to high quality global producers. These two forces are driving unprecedented public-private experimentation and innovation and a reshaping of China’s agricultural sector.

 

 

The latest No. 1 Document released by the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee and the State Council in early 2016 signaled a relentless focus on ‘accelerating the modernisation of Chinese agriculture’ by improving the supply side, efficiency and quality of the sector and by pushing forward programmes to improve food safety, reduce agricultural inputs and the loss of arable land. The document announced a range of innovations and experiments such as the introduction of a pilot plan to invest in 53 million ha of ‘high quality’ farmland. Similarly, the recently approved 13th Five Year Plan (2016-20) puts forward the goal of nurturing the creation of professional farmers and reforming rural land and land operation systems. The drive towards the modernization of Chinese food production, processing and distribution means China’s agricultural sector has entered a period of profound transformation.

 

 

What these changes mean for businesses, governments and food producers outside of China remains unclear. At one level, rationalising the food and agricultural sector in China is a task of extraordinary magnitude and one where Chinese policymakers fully acknowledge the vast challenge of moving away from small-scale, traditional farming systems. Based on previous experience and the progress to date, however, there is every likelihood that these efforts will create new forms of competition and tighter regulatory requirements for international food exporters.

 

 

At another level, the modernisation of Chinese agriculture creates opportunities for foreign companies to play a role in the development of the sector either within China or through joint partnerships at home. Of the later, the new focus on maintaining food security through access to global markets presents a shift-change in policymakers’ attitudes to security of supply issues and increases opportunities for various forms of joint investment and partnership. At the same time the rapid expansion of public and private investment in domestic capacity within China presents a medium to long-term challenge for global food producers.

 


 

Structural Change to Livestock Sector

There are signs that China’s demand for feed grains has reached a turning point as a tightening labour supply and rising feed costs force significant structural change in China’s livestock sector. Over the last 5 years, economic growth has absorbed surplus rural labour and rural wages began rising 15 to 20 percent annually. Labour scarcity, animal disease pressures, and rising living standards are prompting rural households to abandon “backyard” livestock production. More recently, livestock production has increasingly become a specialized farm enterprise, with farmers focusing on maximizing growth of animals, and substituting commercial feed for wastes and forages gathered from the countryside.

 

 

Rising feed demand has pushed up costs and motivated feed mills and livestock producers to explore new feed ingredients like distillers dried grains and sorghum—both imported from the United States. More importantly, China has switched from being a corn exporter to a consistent importer of 3-to-5 mmt annually since 2009. A few years ago Chinese officials announced a new strategic approach to food security which tacitly acknowledges a need for imported feed grains. The strategy still stresses the importance of self-sufficiency, but it allows for “appropriate imports” and focuses concern on food grains—rice and wheat—while placing a lower priority on corn self-sufficiency.

 

 

Demand for meat.

 

China’s meat consumption is expected to rise at a pace similar to the trend over the past decade. Pork plays a central role in China’s meat economy—China accounts for half of world production and consumption—but poultry is gaining in popularity, largely because it is cheaper than pork. Restaurants, fast food chains, and cafeterias play a key role in diversifying meat consumption since many feature specific kinds of meat or chicken. In particular, beef and mutton are important parts of popular hot pot, kebabs, and other types of ethnic cuisine that are becoming popular among the broader population.

 

 

Per capita pork consumption is projected to rise 6.6 kg by 2023/24, more than three times the increase in poultry (2.7 kg) and more than seven times the increase in beef (0.85 kg). However, poultry is projected to account for an increasing share of China’s meat consumption, with per capita consumption rising 2.4 percent annually during the next 10 years, compared to a 1.5-percent annual growth rate projected for per capita pork consumption.

 

China produces nearly all of its own meat. Its output of pork, poultry, and beef rose from about 20 mmt in 1986 to over 70 mmt in 2012, with the fastest growth during the 1980s into the early ‘90s. Projections suggest an increase in pork, poultry, and beef output to 90 mmt by 2023/24, an increase of about 30 percent. Since about 3 kilograms of feed are needed to produce each kilogram of meat, feeding a large and increasing population of animals will be a growing challenge. Growth in feed consumption has accelerated recently, and as China’s livestock farms transition to a more concentrated mode of operations that uses commercial feeds more intensively. China’s combined use of corn and soy meal for animal feed is expected to rise from 200 mmt to over 300 mmt over the 10-year projection period. Chinese animals also consume a variety of other grains, protein meals, bran, and hulls from grains, and growing use of these commodities is expected to support the expansion of meat output.

 

 

China’s soybean imports are expected to reach over 70 percent of global soybean imports by 2023/24, while China’s corn imports are projected to rise to 22 mmt by 2023/24. China will rely on imported soybeans for most of its soybean meal supply, but imports are expected to account for less than 10 percent of corn consumption by 2023/24.

 

 

China is expected to account for 40 percent of the rise in global corn trade over the coming decade making China the leading importer of corn by 2023/24.

 

 

Conclusions.

The growth of meat production will fall slight behind consumption growth, and the imports  are expected to consistently rise in the short term. The dairy production will grow by an average annual rate of 3.5%, the fastest amongst all products. The demand of poultry, eggs, vegetables and fruits for processing will grow rapidly, but the trade balance of these products will remain in surplus.  China will continue to provide fundamental support to China's economic development, and China will make new contributions to world food security and safety.

 

China Food Safety: Regulation, Markets...

China Food Safety: Regulation, Markets & Outlook

By Paul O`Brien for China Brain

Overview

 

Understanding how China regulates its food supply chain is greatly facilitated by dividing it into two broad categories. The first is regulation of all farming orientated activities (crop cultivation, animal husbandry and fishing) and the regulation of all associated farming inputs/outputs officially termed edible agricultural products as regulated by “The Law of the People’s Republic of China on Quality and Safety of Agricultural Products” which fall under the remit of China’s Ministry for Agriculture (MoA).

 

 

The second broad designation includes all other food trade and production activities which are regulated under China’s keystone food safety legislation The Food Safety Law (2015) and falls primarily under the regulatory remit of the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) at a domestic level with the help of China's customs authority the AQSIQ . (* It is also noteworthy that all subsequent trading of edible agricultural products is regulated by the CFDA).

 

         

 

With this important designation in place it is necessary to mention that the content of this article will be restricted to dealing with legislation and regulation of food trade and non-farming related production activities and will primarily reference China’s Food Safety Law (promulgated October 1st 2015) and all supporting regulations, administrative measures, provisions and guidance documents already promulgated in support of China’s overarching food safety law.

 

 

China has a two tier food supply chain and this is reflected in its new food legislation, its regulatory system and its associated economic development plans. China’s food safety targets are now firmly focused on its middle and upper classes (about 300m people) and for this reasons the content of this article will also be limited in scope to the regulation of this food supply.

 

 

In China there is an extensive network of farmers that fall somewhere in the middle of a spectrum between subsistence and small scale industrial farmers. They operate throughout the country, utilizing self-owned logistics and selling small volumes of seasonally available produce through completely unregulated channels. These farmers are a standalone supply chain, encompassing all supply chain elements. They embody the concept of a self-contained farm-to-fork supply chain and due to the ephemeral nature of their business activities are almost impossible to effectively regulate. They do however represent a significant but ultimately unquantifiable contribution to China's complete food supply chain. 

 

 

In addition there is an equally unquantifiable influx of foodstuffs imported through unregulated channels and then sold through social (weibo) and mobile media (wechat). 

 

 

Defining the Context: A Brief look at China’s Food Regulation over the last Decade

 

 

It would be remiss not to include a brief chronology of the recent legislative and regulatory changes that have occurred over the last several years to a decade culminating in the recent promulgation of China’s new Food Safety Law on October 1st 2015. I cannot also fail to mention the specter of food scandal which continues to plague China’s food supply chain and is inextricably linked with the development of China’s food safety legislation. Indeed for well more than a decade the development and implementation of the Chinese government’s food safety policies have been reactionary in nature and largely in response to scandals. A significant number of China’s most important legislative and regulatory changes have been kneejerk reactions in response to the illegal activities of food criminals and attempts to fill the gaps in supervision and enforcement capacity highlighted by these scandals. In contrast recent food industry policies have been developed with careful foresight and are indicative of the shift in China's economic development plans. 

 

 

A Chronology and Overview of Major Food Safety Scandals Precipitating Regulatory Changes (2004-2013)

 

 

2004: Fuyang Fake Infant Formula Scandal Precipitates promulgation of 2 hugely significant pieces of food legislation namely

  1.  GB 7718 – 2004 “General Rules for Labeling of Prepackaged Foods”
  2. GB 13432-2004 “General Rules for Labeling of Foods for Special Dietary Purposes” (Infant formula falls under this category

 

 

2004-2007: Sudan Red Scandal and Nestle Excessive Iodine Scandal

The Fuyang Milk Powder Incident was followed over the course of the next several years by a succession of scandals most notably the “Sudan Red G” scandal of 2005 and a scandal involving excessive iodine in Nestle produced milk powders .

 

 

2008-2009: Melamine Milk Powder Scandal

At the time the melamine scandal first broke China’s overarching food legislation was the “Food Sanitary Law”. As early as 2007, in the wake of recent scandals, there were rumblings of government’s plans to consolidate all of China’s disparate food legislative documents, administrative measures, standards and guidance documents into a single umbrella legislative document that would function as China’s food safety law.  It however wasn’t until the melamine scandal of 2008 was uncovered that a concerted government effort involving multiple ministries was finally undertaken, culminating in the promulgation of China’s first food safety law in 2009.

 

 

2009 -2013: Shineway Clenbuterol Adulterated Pork and Taiwan Beverage Plasticizer Scandal

  • These two incidents prompted the promulgated of GB 7718-2011 “General Rules for the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods in China.”

 

 

From Reactionary Legislation to Strategic Economically Orientated Food Safety Legislation. (2013-Present)

 

 

  • Up until March 2013 China’s food industry was regulated and administrated by numerous ministries each responsible for different elements of China’s food supply chain. Regulation of domestically circulated foods at this time was divided between the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), in addition to the Ministry of Health (now disbanded), the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC).

 

  • In March 2013 the government elevated the then SFDA to ministerial level status, renaming it the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) in addition to consolidating the regulatory responsibility previously designated to the aforementioned ministries under the sole regulatory remit of the CFDA. This became China’s first centralized regulatory authority tasked with ensuring food safety, production standards and the integrity of China’s food industry.

 

 

Key Authorities

  1. CFDA: Regulates China’s Domestic Food Supply China
  2. AQSIQ: Customs Bureau Responsible for Inspecting and Testing the compliance and safety of goods at ports
  3. CNCA: Work in conjunction with AQSIQ and CFDA to conduct onsite inspection of international manufactures exporting to China to ensure compliance with Chinese national standards
  4. NHFPC: Work in collaboration with CFDA to help develop national food safety standards

 

 

Recent Developments in China’s Food Industry

 

 

As we can see China's food industry has undergone a period of a rapid transformation in the last several years. Picking a single milestone as a reference point is a difficult task but looking back to March 2013, which saw the elevation of the SFDA to the ministerial level institution we know as today's CFDA, is probably a good line in the sand to help focus further analysis. Looking at the events that have transpired after this key marker helps us place the concerted regulatory efforts of China's primary food regulatory institutions namely the CFDA, AQSIQ, NHFPC in the context of China's broader economic goals and understand the rationale behind many of China's recent legislative and regulatory efforts. Our second marker is the Oct 1st promulgation of China's new food safety law and the heavy emphasis placed on regulating imported foods.

 

 

The Bigger Picture: Finding a Balance between Trade Stimulus and Food Safety

 

 

A key goal as expounded in the sessions of China's National's People’s Congress is to continue to shift China in the direction of a more consumption based economy, deregulate key industries and to allow market forces to have a stronger influence on government policy. The government has earmarked China's food industry (in particular food importation) as a key battleground to achieve these goals as evidenced in recent data (AQSIQ 2014) indicating 17.6% annual growth in the imported food sector (roughly 3 times domestic average).

 

 

3 Birds with One Stone - Food Safety, Market Forces and Increased Importation

 

 

  • The imported food supply chain with its clearly defined entry points is inherently more regulatable than China's domestic supply chain, meaning food safety can be more easily guaranteed. Combined with massive domestic demand for safe foods and the overall plans to allow market forces to dictate policy and to promote consumerism in its middle and upper classes China's recent food industry reforms and the contents of China's new food safety law begin to make sense.

 

  • Unfortunately China faces a bit of a catch 22....deregulation in any key sector of the economy poses significant dangers. If China reduces regulatory compliance requirements for imports it invites disaster in the form of food safety scandals. On the other hand if it over-regulates importation of food it runs the risk of suffocating international investment, fueling importation through grey and black market channels and hamstringing its economic development plans.

 

 

On a Knife Edge.....

 

 

Treading this precarious line between over-regulation at the expense of international investment and deregulation at the expense of food safety the majority of China's policies reflect an effort to find the stable middle ground. China is shifting its emphasis from supervision and inspection at ports which is already stretching the supervisory capacities of AQSIQ towards source control and post market inspection by CFDA with plans to phase-in onsite manufacturer inspection in country of origin using CNCA (similar to meat, dairy, aquatic products, birds nest), to all food commodities, more requirements for documentation and recording of foreign manufacturer credentials and  incrementally stringent inspection and testing of food imports for traders with a history of compliance issues at port. China plans to stimulate importation by reducing customs tariffs and reducing customs clearance administrative red tape which will bring about a more affordable, streamlined administrative process complete with user friendly IT-based recordkeeping for foreign enterprise exporting to China.

 

 

Haitao: The Leak Channel  

 

 

China's best laid economic plans and attempts to control food trade balance through technical barriers to trade must cater to the massive demand for imported foods from Chinese consumers which due to the litany of food safety scandals is increasing every year. Import and sale of foods through unregulated channels known as "Haitao" is an extremely destabilizing force for China's economy and in recent years, developments in China's food industry particularly the development of crossborder ecommerce and associated food regulatory reforms have attempted to address this, echoed by Premier Li Keqiang's recent calls to give Chinese consumers greater access to foreign consumer goods.

 

 

Some Key Points about China’s Food Industry and Markets

 

 

  1. an unmatched consumer base composed of a burgeoning middle class with serious discretionary spending power
  2. continued upward mobility of lower classes (more consumers)
  3. safe food sells - traceability and authentication of foods
  4. dissatisfaction and mistrust of domestically produced foods
  5. changes in family planning policy and an upcoming baby boom
  6. an equally important senescent demographic with an interest in anti-aging products, functional foods 
  7. a deep cultural appreciation for the multifactorial nature of disease and the role nutrition plays in prophylaxis. 
  8. despite this fact there are paradoxically low rates of breast feeding among Chinese mothers
  9. government calls for increased access to foreign consumer goods
  10. a switch from premarket inspection to postmarket supervision
  11. deregulation of specific importation and trade channels e.g CBEC
  12. an upcoming baby boom (change in 1 child policy)

 

 

Coupling of Food Safety Legislation and Economic Goals

 

 

Under China's new food safety law the government has clearly legislated with an emphasis on food importation and will also push accountability for any food safety issues to the food industry ensuring individual enterprises bear full responsibility for food safety issues. In line with this it has legislated for source control via CNCA audit of international manufacturers exporting to china, risk based supervision, credit/blacklisting, a self-regulating industry and shifting from premarket to postmarket supervision.

 

 

The Chinese government's food industry development strategy is perfectly encapsulated by developments in its infant formula and dairy industry over the last several years. The coupling of legislation and development of technical barriers to trade have been carefully designed to shape markets and harness consumer demand for imported goods as a force for domestic economic growth. (I'll revisit later)

 

 

Major food safety issues will mean manufacturers lose the right to export to China by being struck off the AQSIQ/CNCA accreditation list. For smaller issues during standard testing at port, any safety and compliance issues uncovered by the AQSIQ will cause manufacturers to accumulate penalties and be subject to incrementally stringent compliance requirements based on their track record.  CFDA will then be tasked with conducting monthly random sampling campaigns to mop up the unlikely problems that escaped the first 2 steps.

 

 

China’s Infant Formula Sector as the Model for Future Growth

 

 

In the next decade China will have the safest infant formula available anywhere. That will be just 10 short years after China's melamine scandal. The progress made in China's infant formula industry has been realized not by any massive improvement in domestic conditions, manufacturing standards, animal husbandry or pasture management but in savvy foreign trade policies and technical barriers to trade in the form of incrementally stringent regulations. Developments in China's infant formula sector encapsulate the key regulatory, economic, trade and business strategies adopted by China's government to improve food safety. It is the model which China's government will continue to use to rapidly improve the safety of foods circulating in its markets. When the Chinese government talk about focusing on imports, allowing Chinese consumers access to foreign products and letting market forces dictate changes in food safety the following is a broad overview of the strategy they follow.

 

 

  • Regulatory Selective Pressures at a Domestic Level

China implemented successively stringent regulatory requirements for domestic producers forcing closure and/or mergers of China's lowest technical capacity manufacturers and survival and consolidation of supply into the hands of China's fittest domestic manufacturers. In a few years the number of manufacturers went from several hundred to just 128.

 

 

  • Merger and Acquisition

The world’s largest international dairy manufacturers have engaged in multibillion dollar deals with China's largest infant formula manufacturers. International infant formula manufacturers get access to the world’s largest consumer base and a head start on competition through foreknowledge of pending regulations and changes to market access requirements. The Chinese manufacturers get access to raw materials from high value regions seen as the safest in the eyes of Chinese consumers ...Ireland, New Zealand, Holland, France, Germany, the experience of the world’s largest dairy companies and a share in the spoils of international companies’ profits.

 

 

  • Technical Barriers to Trade: Funnel and Control Supply

Once the first two strategies are in place controlling supply is particularly important. China first required CNCA onsite inspection of all infant formula manufacturers. Recent notices to WTO and draft regulations released here in China show how China will limit manufacturers to just 3 product lines and require registration of all infant formulas.  With the first 3 steps complete the boundaries between what is considered a purely Chinese enterprise and a international enterprise are becoming increasingly blurred. All players exporting to the Chinese market now have mutually vested interests with the Chinese manufacturers and their partner enterprises here in China.

 

 

  • Fitting the Economic Paradigm: Made for China

The food industry is an important sector of China's economy and particularly important from a cultural perspective. A consumption based economy requires consumer products that are in demand. From a food industry perspective this essentially equates to sourcing of imported packaged goods and the ingredients which are used in these products. The government has earmarked specific high risk high demand sectors for implementation of its food safety improvement strategy starting with infant formula and other "special foods", meats and aquatic products. Chinese national standards also increasingly require dedicated labeling and formulation strategies which forgo use of simple over labels on existing products produced in other markets.

 

 

Current Regulation of Food Safety in Mainland China

 

 

To further aid understanding of China food legislation and regulation it is necessary to further subdivide China’s food supply Chain into another 2 key categories specifically

 

 

  • Entry of imported food as controlled and regulated by the AQSIQ
  • Regulation of domestic circulation, production and trade as regulated by the CFDA.
  • In addition a significant number of Chinese national food standards are developed by the NHFPC (National Health and Family Planning Clinic) 

  

 

New Food Safety Law

 

 

Beginning in earnest at the start of 2015 Chinese food safety policymakers have been working flat out to build a solid foundation for practical implementation of China's food safety law on October 1st 2015 which will serve as the framework for development of China's food safety infrastructure over the next several years. China is heavily reliant on imported foods and this is reflected in the strong emphasis placed on regulating imports, particularly what China classifies as special foods and foods for special dietary purposes i.e. health foods, nutrient supplements, infant formula .

 

 

Why China will remain a major sourcing...

Why China will remain a major sourcing hub.

There have been countless articles and books about China’s reign as the factory of the world coming to an end. While it is true that wage increases are making some of China’s lower-end industries, such as textiles, less competitive vis-à-vis other low-cost countries such as Viet Nam, Cambodia and Bangladesh, China remains one of the top procurement sources for mid- to high-tier products. For instance, heavy equipment exports from China experienced a growth rate of about 30 percent in the last decade alone. Even as some of the lower-end industries move out, there is more to a country’s competitive supply chain than labor costs. China maintains a set of key factors that will continue to make it a competitive exporter even as the economic landscape shifts. These include:

 

  • High-quality infrastructure (especially export-related infrastructure): China’s rail and road infrastructure, particularly along the coastal cities, are among the most developed globally. With a history of double-digit investment in infrastructure, China’s ports complement the rail/road infrastructure. Shanghai long surpassed Singapore as the world’s busiest port and it will be a while before key competing countries can match China’s current (and continuously developing) infrastructure.

 

  • Increasing qualified labor force: China produces hundreds of thousands of graduate engineers and scientists each year to be absorbed into the local industries. Moreover, China now has the world’s largest student population studying overseas with a sizeable number returning upon completion of their studies. Although there has been renewed attention to quality rather than quantity in the number of graduates, the increasing education level will boost China’s competitiveness vis-à-vis some of the other low-cost sourcing destinations.

 

  • Growing research and development expenditure leading to higher innovation capacity: Despite the reputation for copying, China’s innovation has continued to pick up pace. A report by McKinsey & Company (Greater China) highlights innovation in areas such as renewable energy, consumer electronics, instant messaging and mobile technology. As internal and external competition increases, China is also focusing on price reduction, adaptation of business models and supply chain development. This will lead to the elimination of less efficient firms, both domestically and those focused on the export market.

 

  • Lower costs relative to industrialized countries: Despite double-digit growth in both wages and currency appreciation during the past decade, China’s minimum wage still stands far below that of industrialized countries. Rising wages are correlated with increasing productivity. Therefore countries competing with China for lower costs will have to also compete with increased productivity and vice versa.

 

  • Specialization, not only at sector level, but also at product level: China’s specialization in various products remains unparalleled globally. There are entire towns dedicated to producing a single product. For instance, Shenyang, a city in northeast Liaoning Province, has developed a reputation for its heavy industry, particularly in the manufacture of automobile and light machinery. The Pearl River Delta is known for textiles/electronics industries, whereas Shenzhen has become the IT hub of China. Moreover, the product range available in these agglomerations is diverse, catering for low- to high-end products, resulting in differentiation as a key competitive factor.

 

  • Pro-export policies: It is true that the Chinese authorities have decided to alter the export-led growth model to one focused on domestic consumption. However, the country’s “going out” policy combined with an increasing saturated domestic market, especially in sectors related to fixed assets investment such as steel, cement and heavy equipment, continues to have explicit support (via export rebates or subsidies) or tacit support (high barriers to entry, licensing requirements), especially at local level. This support will continue to boost Chinese exports’ competitiveness – at least in the short term.

 

 

A shift inland: As the coastal areas become expensive, investment in areas such as Chengdu, Xining and Chongqing, which are a distance from the coast, continues to see increasing direct investment from both local and foreign firms. As well as taking on relocated industries from the PRD (Pearl River Delta) area, these regions are also leading the way for new industrial development in Hi-Tech fields. This is not to say that the inland does not pose its own problems, but over time it may prove easier to shift inland than abroad.

 

Key Indicators on ASEAN-China Trade...

Key Indicators on ASEAN-China Trade & Investment 2013

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration. At present, China is the largest trading partner of ASEAN while ASEAN is China's third largest trading partner. From 2002 to 2012, China-ASEAN bilateral trade climbed 23.6 percent annually to its current 400 billion U.S. dollars. Mutual investment added up to over 100 billion dollars by the end 2012. Currently member countries and China are working to upgrade and deepend the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) that was established in 2010.

 

 

Key Indicators on ASEAN-China Relations (2013): Trade

 

Category

Contents

Ranking

Remarks

ASEAN-China Trade

443.6 billion USD

(ASEAN Importing 244.1 billion USD /Exporting 199.5 billion USD)

China is ASEAN's largest trade partner, and ASEAN is China's 3rd largest trade partner.

Increased by 10.9% from 2012

 China's Trade with Malaysia

 106.07 billion USD

(Malaysia Importing 45.93 billion USD /Exporting 60.14 billion USD)

 1st among ASEAN Member States

Increased by 11.9% from 2012
 China's Trade with Singapore

75.91 billion USD

(Singapore Importing 45.86 billion USD /Exporting 30.05 billion USD) 

2nd

 Increased by 9.6% from 2012
China's Trade with Thailand

71.26 billion USD

 (Thailand Importing 32.74 billion USD /Exporting 38.52 billion USD)

3rd

Increased by 2.2% from 2012

 China's Trade with Indonesia

 68.35 billion USD

(Indonesia Importing 36.93 billion USD /Exporting 31.42 billion USD)

 4th

Increased by 3.2% from 2012 
 China's Trade with Vietnam

 65.48 billion USD

(Vietnam Importing 48.59 billion USD /Exporting 16.89 billion USD)

 5th

Increased by 29.8% from 2012
China's Trade with the Philippines

38.07 billion USD

(the Philippines Importing 19.84 billion USD /Exporting 18.23 billion USD)

6th

Increased by 4.6% from 2012

Source: General Administration of Customs of China

 

Key Indicators on ASEAN-China Relations (2013): Investment

 

 ASEAN-China Investment Total: 14.09 billion USD

 

 ASEAN's Investment to China Total: 8.35 billion USD China's Investment to ASEAN Total: 5.74 billion USD 
Rank   Country  Investment    Rank  Country Investment
 1st among ASEAN Member States  Singapore  7.327 billion USD  1st among ASEAN Member States Singapore 2.4 billion USD
 2nd Thailand  480 million USD 2nd  Laos 800 million USD
 3rd  Malaysia  280 million USD  3rd  Indonesia  760 million USD

Source: Ministry of Commerce of China

 

US Exports to China 2013

US Exports to China 2013

In 2013, US exports to China reached $120 billion, making it the third-largest export market for US goods behind Canada and Mexico, our neighbors and NAFTA partners.

 

US exports to China have grown faster than exports to any other major US trading partner. From 2004 to 2013, US exports to China increased 255 percent. That rate is greater than growth to any of the other top ten US export markets, including its two largest trading partners, Canada (59 percent growth) and Mexico (108 percent growth). With its large population, rapidly growing middle class, and long list of infrastructure goals, China will continue to be a major export market for US goods and services.

 

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