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China logged a staggering agriculture trade deficit in thefirsthalf of this year, importing US$3.73 billion more than itexported,indicated the latest statistics from the MinistryofAgriculture.Ministry officials and academics, however, gavealukewarm response to the scenario, claiming the situation isaresult of the countrys ever-opening market, and may not becomeatrend.It is still too early to conclude the agriculturetradedeficit will run for the whole or the coming years,
WangZhanlu, adivision director of the ministrys Agriculture TradePromotionCentre, told China Daily Thursday.The agriculture trade issubjectto an array of factors, including supply-demand relations,prices,harvests and even climate, he said.But the status quoprobablymeans China may not be able to sustain a long-standingagriculturetrade surplus as it always did before it joined theWorld TradeOrganization (WTO) in 2001, said Han Yijun, a researcherwith theministrys Research Centre for Rural Economy.The countryaveragedan agriculture trade surplus of US$4.3 billion a yearbetween 1995and 2003, according to the centres data.In the firsthalf of 2004,the country exported US$10.62 billion of farm produce,up by 10.7per cent over the same period last year, according to astatementfrom the ministry.Imports, however, soared by 62.5 percent year onyear to hit a record US$14.35 billion, producing aUS$3.73 billiondeficit, compared with a surplus of US$760 millionin the firsthalf of last year, said the statement.The deficit isglaring butnot surprising, given the countrys commitmentsfollowing WTOentry, the implementation of tariff rate quotas andcompetition inthe global market, Han said, withoutspecifying.Compared with thefirst half of last year, China imported1.8 times as much as grain(rice, corn, wheat and barley), or 4.115million tons, in the firsthalf of this year, partly in response tothe strainingsupply-demand relations in the domestic market,according to Han.Inparticular, wheat trade made a U-turn during theperiod, Hansaid.Back in the first half of last year, China was anet exporterof wheat. But it imported 2.727 million tons of wheatby the end ofthis June, the latest customs statisticsindicated.Wang of theAgriculture Trade Promotion Centre said grainimports constitutedjust a marginal part of food consumption inChina, and the countrywill by no means rely on imports for foodsecurity.Wheat imports,for example, have been used to replenishstocks rather than fordirect consumption, according to Han Jun, asenior researcher withthe State Council Development Research Centre- a leadinggovernment think-tank.Cheng Guoqiang, another researcherwith theState Council think-tank, also said the agriculture tradedeficit,largely a result of a drastic increase in imports of grain,edibleoil and cotton, is mostly within the rational range.WhatChengreckoned as unexpected was the part of the deficitcontributed toby trade in animal products.Chinas animal productshave been longregarded as advantageous in terms of export, Chengsaid.But betweenJanuary and June, China exported US$1.37 billionworth of animalproducts and imported US$2 billion, creating adeficit of US$630million, the customs statistics indicated.With thebird fluepidemic that occurred earlier this year, theever-growingtechnical barriers imposed on Chinese agriculturalproducts haveset back and upset Chinese exports, Cheng saidimproving hygieneand quality standards in animal products will bekey to tradeexpansion.Major importersChina imported mostagricultural productsfrom North America in the January-June period.Sales ofagricultural products to China increased by 78.4 percentyear-on-year to hit US$5.65 billion.The United Statesaloneexported US$4.96 billion worth of farm produce to China, ajump of68.1 per cent compared with the same period in 2003,according tocustoms statistics.Chinas agricultural exports to theUS werevalued at US$1.12 billion, up by 26.9 per cent in the halfyearperiod.(China Daily)
（信息来源：MOFTEC英文版子站）
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