I. Overview of agricultural trade between China and LAC countries since entering WTO
From 2001 to 2023, the total trade volume of agricultural products between China and LAC countries showed a continuous growth trend, from 2.58 billion US dollars to 81.03 billion US dollars, with an average annual growth rate of 17.0%. Among them, the value of imports increased from 2.40 billion US dollars to 77.63 billion US dollars, an increase of 31 times; Exports increased 19-fold from $170 million to $3.40 billion. Our country is in the position of deficit in agricultural products trade with Latin American countries, and the deficit continues to increase. The huge agricultural product consumption market in our country has provided great opportunities for the development of agriculture in Latin America. In recent years, more and more high-quality agricultural products from Latin America, such as Chilean cherry and Ecuadorian white shrimp, have entered our market.
Overall, the share of Latin American countries in China’s agricultural trade has gradually expanded, but the distribution of imports and exports is unbalanced. From 2001 to 2023, the proportion of China-Latin America agricultural trade in China’s total agricultural trade increased from 9.3% to 24.3%. Among them, China’s agricultural imports from Latin American countries accounted for the proportion of total imports from 20.3% to 33.2%, China’s agricultural exports to Latin American countries accounted for the proportion of total exports from 1.1% to 3.4%.
2. The characteristics of agricultural trade between China and LAC countries
(1) Relatively concentrated trading partners
In 2001, Argentina, Brazil and Peru were the top three sources of imports of agricultural products from Latin America, with a total import value of 2.13 billion US dollars, accounting for 88.8% of the total imports of agricultural products from Latin America that year. With the deepening of agricultural trade cooperation with Latin American countries, in recent years, Chile has surpassed Peru to become the third largest source of agricultural imports in Latin America, and Brazil has surpassed Argentina to become the first largest source of agricultural imports. In 2023, China’s imports of agricultural products from Brazil, Argentina and Chile totaled 58.93 billion US dollars, accounting for 88.8% of the total imports of agricultural products from Latin American countries in that year. Among them, China imported 58.58 billion US dollars of agricultural products from Brazil, accounting for 75.1% of the total imports of agricultural products from Latin American countries, accounting for 25.0% of the total imports of agricultural products in China. Brazil is not only the largest source of agricultural imports in Latin America, but also the largest source of agricultural imports in the world.
In 2001, Cuba, Mexico and Brazil were the top three agricultural export markets of China to LAC countries, with a total export value of 110 million US dollars, accounting for 64.4% of China’s total agricultural exports to LAC countries that year. In 2023, Mexico, Chile and Brazil are the top three agricultural export markets of China to Latin American countries, with a total export value of 2.15 billion US dollars, accounting for 63.2% of the total agricultural exports of that year.
(3) Imports are dominated by oilseeds and livestock products, and grain imports have increased significantly in recent years
China is the world’s largest importer of agricultural products, and has a huge demand for agricultural products such as soybeans, beef and fruits from Latin American countries. Since China’s entry into WTO, the import of agricultural products from Latin American countries is mainly oilseeds and livestock products, and the import of cereals has increased significantly in recent years.
In 2023, China imported 42.29 billion US dollars of oilseeds from Latin American countries, an increase of 3.3%, accounting for 57.1% of the total imports of agricultural products from Latin American countries. Imports of livestock products, aquatic products and cereals were 13.67 billion US dollars, 7.15 billion US dollars and 5.13 billion US dollars, respectively. Among them, the import of corn products was 4.05 billion US dollars, an increase of 137,671 times, mainly because Brazilian corn was exported to China’s inspection and quarantine access. The large number of Brazilian corn imports has rewritten the pattern of corn imports dominated by Ukraine and the United States in the past.
(4) Export mainly aquatic products and vegetables
Since China’s accession to the WTO, the export of agricultural products to LAC countries has been mainly aquatic products and vegetables, in recent years, the export of grain products and fruits has increased steadily. In 2023, China’s exports of aquatic products and vegetables to Latin American countries were $1.19 billion and $6.0 billion respectively, accounting for 35.0% and 17.6% of the total exports of agricultural products to Latin American countries, respectively.
Post time: Aug-30-2024