Voices

The U.S.-China relationship is a central part of the future global food and agricultural economy. While other suppliers such as Brazil, the former Soviet Union, and Sub-Saharan Africa are expected to continue increasing production, the United States will likely remain as one of the world’s most important agricultural exporters. On the demand side, China’s growing wealth and limited arable land and water resources have made it into the world’s biggest net food importer. This makes it vital for both countries to work together.

Because of the rapidly emerging middle class, opportunities to increase agriculture and food production, processing, marketing, and distribution abound throughout East Asia, and particularly in China. And regardless of how you calculate this new demand, it is unusually large and unanticipated. Such new demand is sure to generate multiple investment opportunities in new food production and process systems. It is highly unlikely that China and other East Asian countries will simply replicate the development of the commodity-based agricultural and food model so successfully developed by the industrialized world, particularly the United States.