SunSirs: Import and Export Situation of China's Agricultural Products from January to August 2025

From January to August, China's agricultural product import and export volume was US $201.71 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 4.7%. Among them, exports were US $65.81 billion, an increase of 1.0%; imports were US $135.90 billion, a decrease of 7.3%; and the trade deficit was US $70.09 billion, a decrease of 14.0%.

1. Grain

From January to August, grain imports reached 15.804 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 61.5%, and the import value was 4.77 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 61.0%. Exports reached 966,000 tons, up 9.8%, and the export value was 590 million US dollars, up 0.1%. Net imports were 14.838 million tons, a decrease of 63.0%.

Wheat: Imported 2.599 million tons, down 75.2% year-on-year. Exported 86,000 tons, up 20.2%.

Corn: Imported 8.78 million tons, down 92.9% year-on-year. Exported 0.2 million tons, up 14.2%.

Rice: Imported 2.044 million tons, up 1.3 times year-on-year. Exported 823,000 tons, up 8.4 percent.

Barley: imported 6.591 million tons, down 39.4% year-on-year. Exported 32,100 tons, down 9.2%.

Sorghum: Imported 2.978 million tons, down 48.7% year-on-year. Exported 0.1 thousand tons, up 1.9%.

Corn distillers grains (DDGs) imported 0.3 thousand tons, down 98.1% year-on-year.

Cassava (mainly dry cassava) imported 4.691 million tons, up 1.5 times.

2. Cotton, sugar

Cotton: From January to August, imports totaled 654,000 tons, a decrease of 70.6% year-on-year; the import value was $1.13 billion, down 74.7%. In addition, imports of cotton substitutes, cotton yarn [1], totaled 909,000 tons, a decrease of 9.9%.

Sugar: From January to August, 2.607 million tons of sugar were imported, an increase of 5.1% year-on-year; the import value was $1.19 billion, a decrease of 14.2%.

3, Edible oilseeds, edible vegetable oils

Edible oilseeds: From January to August, imports increased by 2.0% year-on-year to 77.68 million tons, while import value decreased by 10.6% year-on-year to US$35.75 billion; exports increased by 2.6% year-on-year to 7.15 million tons, while export value decreased by 4.1% year-on-year to US$1.18 billion; trade deficit increased by 10.8% year-on-year to US$34.56 billion. Among them, soybean imports increased by 4.0% year-on-year to 73.31 million tons; rapeseed imports decreased by 31.9% year-on-year to 2.331 million tons.

Edible vegetable oil: From January to August, 4.33 million tons of imports were made, a decrease of 10.2% year-on-year, with an import value of US $4.81 billion, up by 1.5%; 271,000 tons of exports were made, up by 1.6 times, with an export value of US $350 million, up by 1.2 times; the trade deficit was US $4.46 billion, down by 2.5%. Among them, palm oil imports were 2.064 million tons, down by 14.4%; rapeseed oil imports were 1.446 million tons, up by 24.1%; sunflower oil and safflower oil imports were 339,000 tons, down by 59.2%; soybean oil imports were 195,000 tons, down by 8.6%.

4, Vegetables, fruits

Vegetables: From January to August, the export value was US $11.12 billion, a decrease of 6.5% year-on-year; the import value was US $950 million, an increase of 23.2%; the trade surplus was US $10.17 billion, a decrease of 8.6%.

Fruit: From January to July, the export value was US $5.08 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2.2%; the import value was US $14.53 billion, an increase of 3.5%; the trade deficit was US $9.45 billion, an increase of 4.2%.

5, Livestock products, aquatic products

Agricultural products: From January to August, the import value was $27.26 billion, an increase of 3.4% year-on-year; the export value was $4.80 billion, an increase of 14.2%; the trade deficit was $22.46 billion, an increase of 1.3%. Among them, pork imports were 698,000 tons, an increase of 2.1%; beef imports were 1.809 million tons, a decrease of 4.0%; mutton imports were 259,000 tons, an increase of 1.6%; milk powder imports were 639,000 tons, an increase of 1.9%.

Aquatic products: From January to August, the export value was US $13.47 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2.8%; the import value was US $15.66 billion, an increase of 5.5%; the trade deficit was US $2.18 billion, an increase of 25.3%.

Note: The data on the import and export trade volume of agricultural products is from the official website of the General Administration of Customs of China. The trade data by product category is compiled according to the classification caliber of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China's agricultural products.

[1] Cotton yarn is classified as an industrial product in the statistics of import and export.

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