Ag Minister Not Afraid of Trade Friction

China's strength in agriculture gives the country confidence to face trade friction, the country's ag minister said in an article posted on the communist party's Peoples Daily website today.

Minister Han Changfu said a sixth-straight 600-million-ton fall grain harvest is just 10 days away, providing food security "ballast." Han spent most of the article reciting improvements in farm policy, rural development, and ecological balance that give the economy "room to maneuver" against economic risks.

The only mention of the United States is a sentence citing a $16.4 billion agricultural trade deficit with the U.S. in 2017, but the trade war is in the background of the article. The main thrust if the remarks is to emphasize China's commitment to globalization in agriculture and the resilience of its rural economy in the ongoing trade war with the United States.

Han finished his remarks by touting China's rising degree of openness and international cooperation in agriculture. Citing statistics on remarkable growth in trade since joining the WTO in 2001, Han emphasized that China has become the largest agricultural importer and second-largest agricultural trading country. He noted that China is the largest buyer of soybeans, sugar, and cotton, and has become a target market for other countries. China has 120 agreements on agricultural cooperation with over 60 countries and international organizations, Han said. Through its "Belt and Road" initiative, China has made joint plans on cooperation, is sending agricultural experts abroad, and is building demonstration zones. China has invested $18 billion abroad in 100 countries during the last five years, Han said.

According to Han, China's strategy of utilizing both domestic and foreign resources and markets has helped China import what it needs, relieve pressure on stressed domestic resources, and stabilize supply.

According to Han, China will not provoke trade frictions, but is not afraid of trade friction either. Trade frictions pose challenges as well as opportunities and, "In this regard, we have plenty of enthusiasm and confidence," Han said.