Expodireto 2023: Brazil has ‘prominent position in China's food security’

Panels and lectures presented at the Expodireto Agrodigital Arena, an event specially covered by AgroPages, have concluded that Brazil has become an important trade partner of China.

The Asian giant mainly imports soybeans and corn from Brazilian agribusiness, and these commodities play a critical role in increasing the demand for feed for the production of animal protein.

According to the panelists participating in Expodireto's Agrodigital Arena, this partnership with Brazil only grows as China's urban expansion and the income of the Chinese middle class increase.

The lecture ″How to feed the dragon – China's relationship with food and the role of Brazil″, was mediated by Larissa Wachholz, Executive Director of Vallya Agro and former head of the China Nucleus at the Ministry of Agriculture.

Larissa Wachholz

The stage also received Letícia Frazão Leme, a diplomat at the Brazilian embassy in Beijing, and Jean Taruhn, special advisor to the Ministry of Agriculture for strategic markets in Asia.

The lecture began by denying the 'fake news' that China "cannot feed itself".

According to the panelists, Chinese agriculture is highly productive and presents annual growth of up to 4% due to the intensive use of technology and agricultural inputs.

However, only 8% of Chinese land is arable, which leads to over-cultivation and extensive use of fertilizers, which makes production more expensive.

As a result, experts said, the Chinese government opted to make the self-sufficiency policy more flexible and began to buy more grains from other countries. For China, importing commodities is synonymous with saving water and soil.

With 100 times more productive land per inhabitant than China, Brazil has assumed a prominent position concerning China's food security.

″Brazilian farmers are among those who have benefited most from the Chinese need to secure feed for animal production. China has a great demand for feed to meet its domestic protein production, especially pork,″ Wachholz explained.

She explained that this happened due to ″Chinese economic and social dynamism, in which a considerable part of the population reached the middle class, began to eat better quality food and demanded a richer and more diversified diet.″

Currently, 22% of agribusiness products imported by China come from Brazil – pointing to a trend expected to strengthen.

However, the speakers drew attention to Brazil's need to expand trade and reach other markets, such as West Asian countries.

Despite the good relationship with Brazil, China does not hide its interest in diversifying grain suppliers. In the medium term, this could become a risk for Brazilian agribusiness.

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)