China's meat and dairy imports surged in the first half of the year
BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Data released by Chinese authorities on Aug. 18 show that in the first half of this year, China's agricultural trade showed a trend of increased exports, slowed imports and a narrowed trade deficit, with meat and dairy imports rising sharply: pork imports up 1.4 times year on year, beef imports up 60.8 percent year on year, and milk powder imports up 20.6 percent year on year.
According to statistics from China's Ministry of Agriculture, in January-June, China's import and export volume of agricultural products fell 3.1 percent year on year, exports rose 2.8 percent year on year, imports fell 6.5 percent year on year, and the trade deficit fell 19.1 percent year on year. Among these, the decline in net grain imports was notable, down 20.4 percent year on year; cotton and sugar imports fell sharply, both down more than 40 percent year on year; imports of edible oilseeds increased, up 8.8 percent year on year, while imports of edible vegetable oil fell 14.6 percent year on year.
Against the backdrop of a continuously narrowing deficit in international agricultural trade, vegetable exports grew 8.3 percent, maintaining a sustained surplus; fruit exports increased 20 percent, and the deficit narrowed sharply; imports of aquatic products grew faster than exports, and the surplus fell 1.9 percent year on year.
In response to the floods and waterlogging that hit many parts of China in the first half of the year, the Ministry of Agriculture said the impact of floods and waterlogging on crop production was locally severe but limited overall. According to the Ministry of Agriculture's crop condition monitoring, the harvested area of early rice this year was slightly lower than last year, and harvesting has now ended; affected by persistent heavy rainfall in the earlier period and severe flooding in the Yangtze River basin, early rice yield per unit area is expected to decline and total output to decrease. Transplanting of double-cropping late rice progressed smoothly and has now ended, basically achieving timely transplanting, and the sown area is expected to be basically flat compared with last year.
On agricultural product prices, in July, China's wholesale prices of agricultural products showed a pattern of overall stability, a slight month-on-month rise and a year-on-year decline, with grain prices rising moderately and livestock and poultry product prices generally falling. The Ministry of Agriculture expects that in the second half of the year, the growth of autumn grain crops will gradually improve, livestock, poultry and aquaculture will remain stable, market supply will be guaranteed, and there will be little room for price fluctuations.