China, Europe can look past disputes to cultivate food trade, EU agriculture commissioner says

EU’s agriculture commissioner says China, Europe can expand food trade despite disagreements over other sectors
Though EU probes are under way in industries like electric vehicles, commissioner wants increased connectivity, particularly purchases from Ukraine

China-EU relations

Mandy Zuoin Shanghai

Published: 9:00pm, 23 Apr 2024

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Despite souring relations, there is still great potential for China and the European Union to boost their agri-food trade, the EU’s chief agricultural official said while urging Beijing to increase its purchases from Ukraine.

Janusz Wojciechowski, the EU agriculture commissioner, said on Monday that he intends to reduce trade barriers and encourages both sides to remain open to each other’s agricultural products even as other industries grow fractious, most notably electric vehicles.

“Food products should be excluded from problems in other sectors. Open food trade is very important for food security at the global level,” he said in an interview with the Post in Shanghai.

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Why is the Chinese government so concerned about food security?

The visit was made in an environment of tense trade relations following EU anti-subsidy probes into several of China’s exports, including electric vehicles and wind turbines. China has responded with its own investigation into imported brandy.

Leading a delegation of over 70 business representatives from the agri-food sector, the largest in his tenure, Wojciechowski said the size of the entourage “shows how important China is as our trade partner”.

While China exports a large volume of goods to Europe, such as solar panels and new energy vehicles, the EU has a significant trade surplus when it comes to the agri-food sector.

China is the third-largest destination for food from the EU and the fifth-largest source of the EU’s food imports, according to 2022 figures from the European Commission.

But EU exports to China in this category have been on a downward trend since 2020, mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Wojciechowski said he hoped trade volume could return to 2020 levels.

The EU exported about €17.7 billion (US$18.9 billion) worth of agri-food products to China in 2020, and imported over €5.1 billion worth of those goods from the country the same year.

China is finalising approval for a second batch of geographical indications (GI) covering 175 agricultural products from the EU, said the commissioner, following an agreement signed in 2020 to use the label to protect 100 European products in China and 100 Chinese products in the EU.

A type of intellectual property right, the GI label identifies a product as carrying a specific geographical origin and can codify other distinguishing characteristics.

Representing a total business value of €350 billion, Wojciechowski’s delegation is also attending a major food and beverage trade fair in Shenzhen later this week, with eyes on expanding their presence in the China market – and its voracious consumer base eager to try a variety of high-quality food.

“In China, we can observe more interest in the quality of food, safe and healthy food. Chinese consumers are more sensitive to this,” he said, adding that high quality standards are the main value of food produced in Europe.

The most popular items China imports from the EU include infant food, cereals, pork and wine, while the EU mainly purchases – in comparatively lower volume – animal products such as meats and fats from China.

Despite China’s recent acceptance of genetically modified (GM) crops – with dozens of GM varieties of soybeans and corn approved to be commercially planted late last year – the generally GM-conservative EU remains open to Chinese products as long as those which include GM crops are clearly labelled, Wojciechowski said.

I hope that you will return to this position, [with Ukraine as] a big exporter to China … This is very important for the stabilisation of the situation in the global market

Janusz Wojciechowski

As Beijing places greater emphasis on self-sufficiency in food amid more pronounced geopolitical uncertainties, the commissioner said there was no contradiction between China’s ambition for food security and desire for open trade relations, considering its population of over 1.4 billion.

The commissioner also implored China to return to previous trade levels with Ukraine. The war-ravaged country counted China as its largest grain importer, but this status was disrupted after Russia pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative last summer.

“I hope that you will return to this position, [with Ukraine as] a big exporter to China, the Asian and African market. This is very important for the stabilisation of the situation in the global market,” he said.

The Black Sea initiative was implemented in July 2022 to ensure that Ukraine, one of the world’s breadbaskets, could safely export its grain from its southern ports, but it expired a year later after Russia chose not to renew. Ukraine has since redirected a large share of exports to the EU and shipments to China have slumped.