The State Council’s “No. 1 document” comes as China prepares its next five-year plan amid trade friction with major food suppliers such as the U.S. and Canada, alongside a domestic economic slowdown and climate challenges.

Although China recorded record grain output last year, it remains heavily reliant on imports. Trade tensions, particularly with the U.S., have accelerated efforts towards self-sufficiency, including investments in machinery and seed technology.

Diversification push

The No. 1 document mentions diversification three times, up from once in 2025, highlighting plans to expand oilseed supplies, diversify the food system, and broaden agricultural imports.

China’s push to diversify agricultural imports could cut reliance on traditional exporters and expand trade with the Global South, said Even Rogers Pay, director at Beijing-based consultancy Trivium China.

“(The increased emphasis on diversification) tells us central policymakers increasingly view diversification as a strategy to make China’s food system more secure, and more resilient when shocks like natural disasters or trade wars occur,” Pay said.

On soybeans, the plan shifts from consolidating expansion gains in 2025 to consolidating and enhancing production capacity, signalling a greater focus on yield and quality rather than planting area, she said.

Beijing has been cutting reliance on U.S. soybeans — which are processed into feed for China’s large pig herd — since the first trade war, while boosting domestic production to bolster food security. U.S. soybean market share in China fell to 15 per cent in 2025, down from 41 per cent in 2016.

Agri-tech innovation

China plans to foster internationally competitive agricultural enterprises, support the expansion of key and specialty agricultural exports, crack down on agricultural product smuggling, and engage in global agricultural and food governance, the document said.

It also outlines measures to boost agricultural innovation, including strengthening research platforms, backing leading agri-tech firms, advancing industrialized biotech cultivation, integrating AI with farming, and cultivating specialized agricultural talent.

Stabilizing meat sector

China aims to strengthen pork production management, support beef and dairy sectors, and promote dairy consumption, the document said.

The meat sector has been hit by oversupply and low prices, squeezing producers’ margins. The government has rolled out measures to stabilize the industry, including a quota system on beef imports and tariffs on EU dairy products.

— Reporting by Beijing Newsroom, Ella Cao and Lewis Jackson

The post China’s ‘No. 1 document’ pushes grain security, agri-tech innovation appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

China has resumed purchases of Canadian canola in the last two weeks after a months-long hiatus triggered by a trade war.

Rival exporter Australia has been positioning itself to capture a share of the Chinese market, having sold around 500,000 metric tons to Chinese buyers after overcoming biosecurity hurdles that had previously blocked its access.

“Even if they do keep buying Canadian canola, China is now buying our canola for the first time in five years,” said Dennis Voznesenski, an analyst at Commonwealth Bank in Sydney.

WHY IT MATTERS: Australia has been positioning itself to capture a share of China’s canola market while Canadian canola was shut out due to trade disputes.

“Being back in China, even if not exclusively, is a good thing for Australian canola demand and prices,” he said.

Chinese buyers have snapped up as much as 650,000 tons of Canadian seed since Beijing and Ottawa struck an initial trade deal earlier this month that will slash tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and Canadian canola, traders have told Reuters.

China imposed preliminary anti-dumping duties of 75.8 per cent on Canadian canola in August, largely halting shipments and idling its crushing industry. This month’s deal should drop total duties on canola to around 15 per cent.

Canadian and Australian prices will now influence trading decisions, dealers said.

“Prices hold the key,” said Stefan Meyer, who leads a trading team at brokers StoneX in Sydney.

There was little difference between the landed cost of Australian and Canadian canola in China, he said. “Australian exporters are matching the (Canadian) prices or offering slightly lower.”

Canada likely to retake lion’s share of China market

Canadian canola seed is being offered in China at $551 (C$745) a ton for March shipment, including cost and freight (C&F), compared with $550 a ton for Australian canola, two trade sources said. A third said Australian supply was $5-$10 cheaper than Canadian.

Canada, which grows much more canola than Australia, will likely retake the biggest share of China’s market, traders said.

“Domestic companies remain more inclined to purchase Canadian canola, having relied on it for years due to its large production and steady supply,” said Zhang Deqiang, an analyst at Sublime China Information.

But Australian exporters remain upbeat.

“We can compete on price for the volume and we would win demand if competitive,” said a source at an international trading firm in Australia.

This is “a significant improvement from not having any access to the market at all,” he said.

The first few Australian shipments are part of a trial to prove that seed from the country does not risk spreading a fungal plant disease called blackleg in China.

Two cargoes of about 60,000 tons have arrived so far from Australia. One, which arrived in China in January, is set to be crushed this week, according to traders with knowledge of the matter.

At least two more are due to sail in February, according to shipping data compiled by Bendigo Bank Agribusiness.

— Additional reporting and editing by Naveen Thukral

The post Australian canola down but not out of China after Xi’s deal with Canada appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Canadian canola is expected to be shipped between February and April, two traders with direct knowledge of the deals said. Each cargo is of around 65,000 metric tons.

Ten cargoes, or around 650,000 metric tons, represent over 10 per cent of China’s canola imports in 2024 and about 26 per cent of its total imports last year.

“It is easy to get Canadian canola into the Chinese market. Crushers have gone ahead and booked these cargoes,” said one of the sources at an international agricultural company.

The traders asked not to be named because they were not authorised to speak publicly on the issue.

During Carney’s visit to Beijing, China and Canada reached an initial trade deal that would cut tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in exchange for lower levies on Canadian canola.

Canola, or rapeseed, is crushed to produce cooking oil and other products. The protein-rich meal left behind in the crushing process is used as livestock feed.

China’s canola crushing industry came to a halt

China imposed preliminary anti-dumping duties on Canadian canola in August last year. It then resumed purchases of Australian canola that were halted after it imposed biosecurity curbs that derailed trade in 2020.

State-owned COFCO bought about 500,000 tons of Australian canola in recent months, raising the hopes of Australian farmers that more purchases would follow.

The two Australian cargoes that have reached China have yet to be processed, leaving China’s vast canola crushing industry at a halt for the first time in years.

“We are not sure what is happening to Australian cargoes as the first cargo that arrived in China has yet to be crushed,” said the source.

The post China buys more Canadian canola appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

As buyers shunned North American supplies amid a trade war, China recorded no imports from the United States for four consecutive months from last September, taking U.S. market share down to 15 per cent from 21 per cent in 2024.

But the 12-million target was met last week after bulk purchases by state stockpiler Sinograin and state trader COFCO, which were the only buyers of U.S. beans, as private crushers continue to favour cheaper supplies from Argentina and Brazil.

WHY IT MATTERS: U.S. soy’s market share in China fell to 15 per cent in 2025, down from 21 per cent the previous year according to Chinese stats.

“Further purchases of U.S. soybeans are unlikely until the next U.S. new crop in September unless prices are competitive with South American soybean prices,” said one of the sources familiar with details of the shipment.

All the sources spoke on condition of anonymity, as they are not authorised to speak to the media.

Sinograin and COFCO did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

China resumed U.S. soybean purchases after the two countries’ leaders met in late October, with the White House saying China had also agreed to buy at least 25 million metric tons annually over the next three years, starting in 2026.

The purchased U.S. soybean cargoes, amounting to 12 million tons, are set for shipment between December and May, the sources said.

In early December, Reuters reported that at least six bulk cargo vessels were scheduled to load soybeans at U.S. Gulf Coast terminals for China, with a seventh already on the way.

One of these vessels, Ocean Harvest, is set to arrive at the eastern port of Zhangjiagang in about a week, according to ship-tracking data from LSEG and Kpler.

Much of the purchased volume is probably destined for state reserves. In recent weeks, Sinograin has held four auctions in an apparent move to free up storage for U.S. soybean shipments.

The post China hits 12 million ton U.S. soybean target pledged in trade truce appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

The Panamax cargo of about 60,000 metric tons of Canadian canola is the first since China halted imports in October, and is expected to be shipped after March, two traders with direct knowledge of the deal told Reuters on Monday.

WHY IT MATTERS: Steep tariffs on Canadian canola effectively halted exports to China.

On Friday, Carney said Canada expects China to cut tariffs on Canadian canola seed to a combined rate of about 15 per cent by March 1 from 84 per cent currently, part of an initial trade deal that also reduces tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.

China’s commerce ministry said later that day Beijing would adjust its anti-dumping measures on Canadian rapeseed, without elaborating.

“Lower duty on Canadian canola is almost a done deal after the Canadian PM visit. It makes sense to buy now,” said one oilseed trader at an international trading company.

The Chinese purchase of Canadian canola comes as Australia had been hoping to lift oilseed exports to the world’s largest importer, with state-owned COFCO buying about 500,000 tons of Australian canola in recent months.

China’s purchases of Australian canola resumed after it imposed anti-dumping duties on Canada, the first in about five years, following biosecurity curbs that derailed trade in 2020.

Zhengzhou rapeseed meal futures CRSMcv1 fell 2.4 per cent to a more than one-year low on Monday on hopes of higher supplies.

China’s Canadian canola import collapse

China has been conducting an anti-dumping probe into Canadian canola and in August imposed preliminary duties of 75.8 per cent, effectively halting shipments amid a wider diplomatic and trade dispute between the two countries.

The halt in Canadian shipments has brought China’s vast canola crushing industry to a standstill for the first time since at least 2015, according to data from consultancy MySteel.

Monthly Chinese canola imports fell to zero in October for the first time in two decades, trade data shows, and inventories at crushing plants have fallen to nothing, MySteel said.

Beijing is expected to make a final ruling in its anti-dumping investigation on Canadian canola before March 9.

Canola, or rapeseed, is crushed to produce cooking oil and other products. The protein-rich meal left behind in the crushing process is used as livestock feed.

The post Chinese importer buys Canadian canola after Carney visit appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

The most-active rapeseed meal futures on the Zhengzhou exchange slipped 0.38 per ent to 2,334 yuan (C$464) per metric ton as of 3:41 GMT, extending losses into a third straight session.

WHY IT MATTERS: Traders anticipate Carney’s visit to China could mean movement on the trade battle over electric vehicles, canola and other agricultural goods.

Carney was expected to visit China from January 13 to January 17, his office said on Wednesday, in what would be the first visit by a Canadian prime minister since 2017.

“Carney’s visit fuelled market expectations that Canada could suspend additional tariffs on Chinese goods for a year, potentially prompting China to also pause its 100 per cent tariffs on Canadian rapeseed oil and meal,” said Zhang Deqiang, an analyst at Shandong-based Sublime China Information.

Expectations of increased supply weighed on prices, Zhang added.

China unveiled tariffs in March on more than C$3.6 billion worth of Canadian agricultural and food products, including canola oil and meal, in retaliation for levies imposed by Ottawa in October on Chinese-made electric vehicles and steel and aluminum products.

Beijing imposed preliminary duties of 75.8 per cent on Canadian canola seed imports in August, though a final ruling could result in a different rate or overturn the decision.

Canada, the world’s largest exporter of canola, shipped nearly C$5 billion worth of canola products to China in 2024, about 80 per cent of which were seeds. The steep duties on canola seed, if they remain in place, would probably all but end those imports.

Canola, or rapeseed, is crushed to produce cooking oil and other products. The meal left behind in the crushing process is used as livestock feed.

“A recent rally alongside soybean meal last week has also prompted a pullback in rapeseed meal prices this week,” said Rosa Wang, an analyst at Shanghai-based agroconsultancy JCI.

— Reporting by Ella Cao in Beijing and Naveen Thukral in Singapore

The post Ahead of Carney visit, China rapeseed meal prices slide near two-week low appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

The cargoes, totalling around 600,000 metric tons, are for shipment between March and May, with overall U.S. soybean purchases now approaching 10 million tons, the traders said.

That represents over 80 per cent of the 12 million metric tons that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said China pledged to buy by the end of February.

“There were more U.S. cargoes bought by Sinograin and total purchases are very close to 10 million tons,” said one of the traders with direct knowledge of the deals. “We think China will buy couple of million tons more to meet the target.”

Market ended 2025 on positive note

China’s buying has underpinned Chicago soybean futures in recent weeks, helping the market end 2025 on a positive note, as the resumption of imports from the United States following a thaw in Beijing–Washington relations has erased most of the losses incurred during the trade war.

Chicago soybeans were trading up 0.1 per cent at $10.62 a bushel as of 11:40 GMT on Tuesday.

Beijing has stepped up U.S. soybean purchases despite a domestic supply glut driven by record South American arrivals and weak demand.

In December, Sinograin held three public auctions to make room for U.S. shipments amid ample domestic supplies.

However, average prices and clearance rates fell in successive rounds, with only one-third of soybeans sold in the final auction, Reuters previously reported.

Traders had expected Sinograin to sell around 4 million metric tons in the auctions.

— Reporting by Ella Cao in Beijing, Naveen Thukral in Singapore and Gus Trompiz in Paris

The post China buys more US soybeans, total purchases near 10 million tons appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Following a trade truce in late October, China has stepped up purchases of U.S. cargoes, with traders saying that more than 7 million metric tons have been purchased since then.

In late November, Reuters reported, citing a shipping schedule, that two cargo vessels would carry the first U.S. soybean shipments to China since May.

As these cargoes have not yet arrived, they do not appear on the customs website.

Argentina, Brazil imports jump

U.S. soybean imports fell to zero in November from 2.79 million metric tons a year earlier, data from China’s General Administration of Customs showed on Saturday.

Arrivals from Brazil jumped 48.5 per cent year-on-year to 5.85 million tons, accounting for 72 per cent of total imports, while shipments from Argentina rose 633.6 per cent to 1.78 million tons, or 21.9 per cent of the total.

The world’s top soybean buyer imported 8.11 million metric tons in November and 103.79 million tons in the first 11 months, putting full-year arrivals on track for a record amid strong purchases from South America and a trade truce with Washington.

From January to November, China imported 76.7 million tons from Brazil, up seven per cent year-on-year, and 6.24 million tons from Argentina, up 62.5 per cent year-on-year.

U.S. soybean imports fell 5.9 per cent year-on-year to 16.82 million tons from January to November.

Sinograin held three auctions this month to make room for U.S. soy arrivals.

The post China imports no US soybeans for third month; Argentine arrivals up 634 per cent appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Some from the European pork industry voiced relief at the decision though they said the tariffs would still hurt. The European Commission expressed concern, pledging to defend exporters.

WHY IT MATTERS: Canadian hog farmers face 25 per cent tariffs from China on pork — also levied in retaliation for duties on Chinese electric vehicles.

China will impose tariffs of between 4.9 per cent and 19.8 per cent on pork imports from the bloc for a five-year period starting on Wednesday, well below the 15.6 per cent-62.4 per cent imposed in a preliminary decision in September, China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.

Importers will receive a refund on the difference between the rates paid since September.

The decision is a partial reprieve for European producers who depend heavily on the Chinese market, especially for the offal — such as pig ears and feet — rarely eaten elsewhere.

European commission to assess WTO compliance

China’s anti-dumping investigation began in June last year and has affected major pork exporters such as Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark.

In 2024, over half of China’s $4.8 billion worth of pork imports came from the EU, with Spain leading the bloc in exports by volume.

That accounted for 17.6 per cent of EU pork exports, the second highest behind Britain, which imported a 29.7 per cent share, according to Spanish government data.

In a statement on Tuesday, the European Commission described China’s investigation as “based on questionable allegations and insufficient evidence”.

It vowed to defend EU farmers and exporters against what it called Beijing’s “abusive use of trade defence instruments” and said it was “carefully assessing all the information available against compliance with WTO rules”.

China also has an anti-subsidy investigation into European Union dairy exports that is due to report next February and has already imposed tariffs on EU brandy.

Talks on tariffs resume

China did not say why it chose to lower rates, though it said last week talks over electric vehicle tariffs had resumed. French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish King Felipe have both recently visited Beijing.

Spanish regional leaders met China’s ambassador in recent weeks to ask for lower tariffs, citing Spain’s openness to Beijing’s investment in the automotive sector, a Spanish regional government source told Reuters.

Spanish Agriculture Minister Luis Planas told reporters that domestic industry could absorb the new rate on pork exports, welcoming what he called an element of stability for the next five years.

He also said he understood the Commission’s concerns, adding that “everything is reversible” through negotiations.

Previously, major exporters to China such as the EU and Brazil were subject to “most-favoured nation” tariffs of around 12 per cent for many pork products.

The anti-dumping duties come on top of these.

U.S. pork is subject to substantially higher tariffs.

Mixed feelings for European producers

Most Spanish firms are now subject to a relatively moderate tariff of 9.8 per cent. Spain’s Litera Meat got the lowest rate, at only 4.9 per cent — an outcome the company described as “very positive”.

Giuseppe Aloisio, head of Spanish industry group Anice, said he expected talks to continue, as the duties would hurt company margins.

In France, Anne Richard, director of pork industry association Inaporc, said there’s some relief as abattoirs that export have been recognized as cooperating and have been granted a rate of 9.8 per cent.

“Having said that, we can’t exactly rejoice at the prospect of a tax,” Richard said.

Morten Boje Hviid, the CEO of Denmark’s Agriculture and Food Council, said the final tariffs were still high and created unequal competitive conditions, generating price pressures within the EU.

China’s approach was “dividing European economic policy,” said Nemesio Sanchez, an international trade consultant specializing in Iberico pork.

Home to half the world’s pigs, China’s massive hog sector is grappling with a supply glut amid weak consumer demand. Chinese pork prices have been falling throughout 2025 and are expected to continue their decline.

Even at the lower rate, the duties could slightly ease food price deflation by raising imported pork prices.

“That will benefit Chinese pig farming companies which have reckoned with low prices for pork all year,” said Even Rogers Pay, a director at Beijing-based consultancy Trivium China.

— Reporting by Daphne Zhang, Ella Cao and Lewis Jackson in Beijing, Gus Trompiz in Paris, Emma Pinedo, David Latona and Corina Pons in Madrid, Soren Sirich Jeppesen in Copenhagen and Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels.

The post Relief as new China ruling lowers EU pork tariffs appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

The tariff commission of the State Council, or cabinet, will scrap duties of up to 15 per cent imposed on some U.S. agricultural goods from November 10, while keeping levies of 10 per cent introduced in response to President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” duties.

Investors relieved

Investors on both sides of the Pacific were relieved when Trump met Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea, easing fears that the world’s two largest economies might abandon talks to resolve a tariff war that has disrupted global supply chains.

Trump and the White House were quick to issue their take on the meeting, but the Chinese side did not immediately give a detailed summary of what it had agreed.

“Broadly, it’s a great sign that the two sides are making rapid progress in putting the deal into effect,” said Even Rogers Pay, a director at Beijing-based Trivium China.

“It shows they’re aligned and that the agreement is likely to hold up.”

The tariff cut nonetheless leaves Chinese buyers of U.S. soybeans facing tariffs of 13 per cent, a cost traders said makes U.S. shipments still too expensive for commercial buyers, compared to Brazilian alternatives.

“We don’t expect any demand from China to return to the U.S. market with this change,” said one trader at an international trading company. “Brazil is cheaper than the United States and even non-Chinese buyers are taking Brazilian cargoes.”

After the meeting, the White House said China would purchase at least 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans in the last two months of 2025 and at least 25 million tons in each of the next three years.

Beijing has yet to confirm those figures, and traders are watching closely for signs of large-scale purchases.

Cheaper Brazilian beans

Chinese importers recently bought 20 cargoes of cheaper Brazilian soybeans as South American prices eased on expectations of a resumption of U.S. sales to the world’s largest soybean importer.

Brazilian soybeans for December shipment are quoted at a premium of $2.25 to $2.30 (C$3.18 to $3.25) over the January Chicago contract SF26, compared with $2.40 a bushel being offered for U.S. beans shipped from the U.S. Gulf Coast, traders said.

Before last week’s meeting, state trader COFCO made China’s first purchases from this year’s U.S. harvest, an act analysts saw as a goodwill gesture.

In 2024, China bought roughly 20 per cent of its soybeans from the United States, down from 41 per cent in 2016, the year before Trump’s first presidential term, customs data showed.

Important agricultural trade partners

This year, China has largely shunned U.S. crops from the autumn harvest due to high tariffs, costing American farmers billions of dollars in lost exports.

In a meeting with a U.S. agricultural trade delegation on Tuesday, China’s senior trade negotiator Li Chenggang attributed “fluctuations” in agricultural trade between the two countries to U.S. tariffs, a summary of the meeting issued by China’s commerce ministry showed.

China and the United States are “important agricultural trade partners”, Li said, adding that he hoped Washington could work with Beijing to create favourable conditions for cooperation.

China’s cabinet said it would also suspend for one year the 24 per cent additional tariffs it imposed on U.S. goods in April.

China will also remove or suspend for a year some non-tariff retaliatory measures, including export control measures announced in March and April against some U.S. entities, the commerce ministry said on Wednesday.

— Reporting by Joe Cash, Ethan Wang and Ella Cao in Beijing, and Naveen Thukral in Singapore.

The post Beijing lifts some tariffs on U.S. farm goods but soybeans stay costly appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.