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China's consumption growth is expected to outpace its production growth by some 0.3 percent per year, signaling a further but modest opening of China's agricultural sector, the report said.
China's imports of oilseeds are expected to rise by 40 percent over the next ten years, accounting for 59 percent of global trade.
Both the meat and dairy sectors will continue to expand which will result in higher imports of feed grains. China is expected to become the world's leading consumer of pigmeat on a per capita basis, surpassing the European Union by 2022. China should maintain its leading role in global aquaculture at 63 percent of global production and remain the largest fish exporter.
China is projected to remain self-sufficient in the main food crops, although output growth is anticipated to slow in the next decade. Key uncertainties around the agricultural outlook for China should be closely monitored and addressed, the report said. These include the sustainability of high levels of economic growth, increasing resource constraints on production, land degradation and water depletion, and greater production variability due to climate change.
According to FAO estimates, China's food security has improved with the number of undernourished falling by almost 100 million since 1990, despite adding an additional 200 million people to its population. Ensuring the food security of the estimated 158 million persons still undernourished remains a major challenge, the report said.
Thursday June 6, 2013/ FAO.
http://www.fao.org
