Celebrating 30 Years of Partnership and Growth

Soy checkoff honors 30th anniversary of developing markets in China

Next time you’re out in the soybean field, just think, one out of every four of those rows will travel halfway across the globe to China. Importing 895 million bushels of whole U.S. soybeans last year, China represents the largest international market for U.S. soy. But it hasn’t always been that way. For the past 30 years, U.S. soybean farmers have been investing in activities and programs to help develop this important relationship.

It all started in 1982 with the American Soybean Association (ASA) and several state soybean checkoffs investing in opening an international marketing development office in Beijing. Since then, the national soy checkoff has been created and made expanding and developing international markets one of its top priorities.

Those efforts led to China overtaking the European Union as the largest international market for U.S. soybeans in 2003. As exports to China have grown, the United States has been a committed partner with China in meeting its long-term goal of sustainable food security. This partnership collaborates with the goals China outlined in its 12th Five-Year Plan.

A Chinese delegation highlighted the bright future for this relationship by committing to buy $6 billion worth of U.S. soy during signing ceremonies in the United States. The commitments total more than 492.3 million bushels of U.S. soy and set a new record for U.S. soybean purchase commitments made in one signing trip.