China to open doors for Indian soyabean

Senior government officials told that China may soon open its doors for soyabean from India after permitting the import of non-basmati rice and raw sugar. And all this is part of Beijing’s efforts to solve deteriorating trade relations with New Delhi.

While talking to media, an official told that “With China no longer ready to purchase soyabean from the US because of on-going trade dispute between the two, there is a big prospect for the Indian soyabean in the Chinese market adding that top trade officials from both the countries have discussed steps to begin imports from India during a recent meeting in Shanghai”.

It is important to mention that Soyabean is one of the items on which Beijing had imposed retaliatory duties of 25% against Washington in response to similar levies imposed by the Trump government on Chinese products.

The official further said, “China, which purchases more than half of the world’s soyabean produce, is bringing in huge quantities from Brazil. After it gives permission to Indian exporters, it can start buying from India too”.

Earlier China had cut import duties on soyabean as well as soyabean meals from few countries which include – India, Bangladesh, Laos, Sri Lanka and South Korea in July in order to prepare for more imports from these countries subsequent to its reduced purchases from America.

The official also told that “Earlier, China had some quality problems with Indian soyabean but numerous steps have been taken in India to guarantee compliance with globally accepted standards. Hopefully, quality won’t be an issue now”.

The good news is that quality inspectors from Beijing are soon expected to visit the country to examine facilities.

Note

In 2012, China had imposed a ban on import of soyabean meals from India due to sanitary and phytosanitary issues. India annually produces around 10 to 11 million tonnes of soyabean. China has begun import of non-basmati rice from India and has placed orders for raw sugar, which will be dispatched early next year.