Food and agriculture exhibitors from the United States are actively pursuing opportunities presented by China's vast market, and they are increasingly optimistic about the future of agricultural trade between the two countries.
The American Food and Agriculture Pavilion at the ongoing ninth edition of the China International Import Expo in Shanghai has expanded its exhibition area to a record 400 square meters. The pavilion, which has gathered 18 exhibitors representing 41 US agricultural associations and small and medium-sized enterprises, showcases a variety of products — from beef and pork to American ginseng, wine, almonds and berries.
On Friday, US exhibitors signed six cooperation agreements during the pavilion's opening, with the total value exceeding $650 million.
Hang Tung Resources, a grain trading company in the US state of Illinois, received the largest order on the pavilion as it concluded three deals for sorghum and wheat, with a combined value of nearly $600 million.
CLB Management, a New York-based company that facilitates exports to China, secured a beef procurement contract worth $51 million at the CIIE, while Dynamite, an animal nutrition enterprise based in the US state of Idaho, sealed a deal worth $1.5 million.
Californian wine, with its distinctive, fruity flavor, also drew large crowds. Christopher Beros, director for Greater China and Southeast Asia at the California Wine Institute, told China Daily that the industry had grown rapidly before the recent challenging years, and that he remains "extremely positive and optimistic" about the future of US-China trade.
Beros noted that the US and China have "a very long and close" connection in terms of people-to-people exchanges. As the world's two largest economies are becoming more sophisticated in many ways, it is "imperative" for the two sides to expand trade cooperation, he said.
Don Anderson, founder and CEO of EVO Wine Group, who has traveled to China for business for more than five decades and is attending the CIIE for the fifth time, said that he sees China as the world's largest potential wine market.
"China has provided a premier platform for everybody in the world to trade both ways. If you want to look at the future, the future is in China," said Anderson, 76.
US berry company Driscoll's, which has invested more than 3 billion yuan ($450 million) in China, said its commitment has yielded fruitful outcomes.
Since establishing its first farm in Jianshui county, Yunnan province, in 2013, Driscoll's cultivated land share in China has grown from 6.67 hectares to over 4,000 hectares, with an annual output exceeding 40,000 metric tons. As Chinese consumers' demand for high-quality berries continues to grow, the company has also experienced sustained market growth.
"We have high-quality varieties, advanced technology and industry experience accumulated over a century, which we have brought and localized in China. Over the past decade, we have been growing with local farmers and partners, cultivating new opportunities for both," said Jon Gleeson, general manager for Asia, Australia and New Zealand at Driscoll's.
For Jenna Scott, chairwoman of sustainability and value creation at Indiana Soybean Alliance, China has been a critical market for her family for generations. A fourth-generation owner of her family business Cox Farms, Scott cultivates 647.5 hectares of row crops each year, including corn and soybeans, and produces 70 million vegetable transplants.
As a first-time visitor to China and a first-time participant at the CIIE, Scott said she sees a "bright future" for her business. "Everybody is talking and exchanging business ideas. … China is critical for us, just as we are for China. We both need each other to grow together," she added.
According to China's General Administration of Customs, the value of bilateral trade in 2025 reached $574.7 billion.
Qiu Yong, deputy director-general of the Department of American and Oceanian Affairs at the Ministry of Commerce, said at a CIIE dialogue event that China-US economic and trade relations are essentially mutually beneficial.
"China and the US can support each other's success to achieve shared prosperity and benefit the world. Agricultural trade is one of the highlights of China-US economic and trade cooperation, which we will support as always to promote a stable relationship between the two nations," Qiu said.
US Consul General in Shanghai Christian Marchant noted at the dialogue that agriculture is one of the most enduring and mutually beneficial pillars of the China-US relationship, standing out today as a bright spot on the bilateral agenda.
