Rise in soybean imports expected to continue

China's soybean imports rose 13 percent in the first nine months of the year, compared with the same period last year, and officials said the trend is likely to continue through the period of the country's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20).

In 2020, China will probably experience a 100 million metric ton shortage of domestic grains, according to Han Changfu, minister of agriculture. Most of the amount will be soybeans, he said.

In the first nine months of this year, China imported a record 52.8 million metric tons of soybeans, up by 13 percent from the same period last year, according to SCI International, a commodity market information service.