Tapping the full potential of agricultural trade with US
My discovery on a trip last week to Bozeman, Montana, was not the Yellowstone National Park nearby, but the huge potential for China-US agricultural trade and cooperation.
It was also a feeling Montana ranchers and farmers shared at an agricultural forum with Chinese embassy officials and business leaders in the backyard of Morgan Ranch House. The host, Craig Morgan, was excited about the prospect that quality feeder cattle raised on his open country ranch may finally end up on Chinese dinner tables after China lifted a 14-year ban on the import of beef from the United States.
As the world's second-largest beef importer, China imported about $2.5 billion worth of beef last year. Still, the per capita beef consumption in China is only 5 kilograms a year compared with the world average of 10 kg. So if China's per capita beef consumption increases to 10 kg, it will need an additional 6.5 million tons of beef a year to meet the demand.
