China on October 23, 2023 inked separate agricultural import deals with the United States and Russia.

The U.S. ceremony in Des Moines, Iowa was a contractual agreement between private Chinese importers and American grain suppliers. 

Multiple firms signed 11 purchasing deals during the China-U.S. Sustainable Agricultural Trade Forum, which U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) organised.

The deal will see China, the world’s largest soybean importer, ship more of America’s biggest oilseed export. 

This agreement also ends a hiatus in bulk trade deals between China and the U.S., which has lasted since 2017. 

In its part, the Russia-China deal has a bigger scope than the Sino-American equivalent. It covers a raft of trade areas ranging from e-commerce and logistics to agriculture.

To draw up the strategic pact, 800 Chinese companies’ representatives congregated in Shenyang in northeast China. They were sizing up the Russian market just a week after the meeting between the two countries’ leaders in Beijing. 

Northeast China has recently become the centre of cross-border trade with Russia. Between January and September, 2023, the region’s Lianoning Province has welcomed 40 companies from Russia, which have established branches here. 

In return, Russia allowed sea passage of Chinese goods from landlocked Jilin in China in May, 2023. Jilin’s traders can now divert to the Vladivostok port on the Trans-Siberian rail line en-route to other parts of eastern China. 

Stakes are High in Sino-America deal

For the China-U.S. deal, stakes are high as China currently ranks as the biggest global importer of American agricultural commodities. 

By October 19, however, imports of U.S. soybeans by China had fallen by 39% below the October 2022 figures. 

In comparison, China’s global imports of food-related items soared by 8.3% by mid-2023. This is even as Beijing looks for a way to be 100% self-sufficient in agriculture. 

Russia-China trade Underexploited

Regarding the Russia-China co-operation, trade potential is currently underexploited but could go higher with the deal. This is despite China’s exports to Russia having surged by 153% by April, 2023. 

In February, China was the biggest buyer of Russia’s rapeseed oil, soybean, oat, flaxseed and poultry. However, Beijing dragged on a key agricultural produce of Moscow, namely wheat. 

Of the 6 million tons of wheat that China imported between January and April 2023, Russian wheat represented only 30,000 tons. This is why the raft of deals this October could ramp up trade, especially of wheat. 

In short, the two separate deals, especially at the climax of the American soybean harvest promises improved global agricultural trade.