China aims to reduce dependence on meat and dairy imports

According to Bloomberg, China – the largest producer and consumer of pork in the world – has set a long-term goal to ensure that its domestic supply of the product is sufficient to meet 95% of demand. As for beef exports, the goal is to achieve 85% self-sufficiency. For dairy products, the goal is for domestic production to cover more than 70% of consumption.

China is reconstructing its pork industry. The African swine fever decimated the country’s swineherd in 2018 and the country had to considerably increase imports to meet domestic demand. As a result of the disease, millions of producers today still fatten less than 500 animals per year. The goal is that 70% of producers reach large-scale capacity by 2025, and 85% will reach it by 2030. It was recently reported that China’s pork reserves are nearing depletion, despite the data being a state secret.

China is the main destination for Brazilian exports of beef, pork, and chicken. See the graph below for the main Brazilian products shipped to China in 2019 and 2020:

Brazilian exports to China and main products | Jan to Aug 2019-2020 | TEU

Graph source: DataLiner (To request a DataLiner demo click here)

Report source: Valor Econômico

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