China's farm produce trade deficit expands in 2019

BEIJING - China's agricultural products trade reported a deficit of $71.87 billion in 2019, up 26.5 percent year-on-year, official statistics showed.

Imports increased by 10 percent year-on-year to $150.97 billion while exports went down 1.7 percent to $79.1 billion, statistics released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs showed.

Total farm produce trade volume rose 5.7 percent year-on-year to $230.07 billion in 2019.

China imported 17.92 million tons of grain last year, while exports stood at 3.24 million tons.

Total imports of corn grew 36 percent to 4.79 million tons in 2019 while imports of pork surged 67.2 percent year-on-year to 1.99 million tons.