Nation develops growing appetite for food imports
China DailyA shopper checks food imported from Central Asia at a supermarket in Xi'an, Shaanxi province. Frede Juulsen, head of international business for Arla Foods' Early Life Nutrition Business, said China's per capita consumption of liquid milk is about one-third the global average, a sign of significant growth potential. The report also said the growth of China's imported food industry is due to four key factors: the vast scale of the global single market; reduced tariffs; expanded sources for imported food; and an increased variety of imported food products. Bai Lu, deputy director of the General Administration of Customs' import and export food safety bureau, said Chinese customs authorities will continuously enhance the import food safety supervision system. A report on such imports by China from BRICS countries last year, which was released at the 2023 China Import Food Summit, said they reached $72.7 billion, a growth of 10.6 times compared with 2006, and representing 31 percent of China's total food imports.