China's imports of coarse grains and soybeans will increase by more than 40% in the next decade.

By 2024, China's net imports of coarse grains and soybeans are likely to increase by 46 per cent and 40 per cent respectively from current levels.

China has been a net importer of cotton, soybeans, rapeseed, barley, soybean oil and palm oil for at least the past decade, the report said. Since 2008 / 09, China has also become a net importer of pork, beef, corn, wheat, rapeseed meal and rapeseed oil, and a net importer of rice since 2011 / 12.

China will remain the world's number one importer of soybeans over the next decade, and its soybean import demand will account for 71 per cent of global imports by 2024, up from 65 per cent today, the report said. China's cotton imports will also more than double their current low levels, but still below the record highs reached in 2011. By 2024, net imports of beef and pork from China and Hong Kong will grow by 71 per cent and 41 per cent, respectively. China is a net exporter of poultry meat, and poultry exports are likely to increase by 12% by 2024.

Recently, China's import trade has had a significant impact on some undertraded grains, including barley and sorghum. Over the past three years, China has become the world's leading importer of sorghum, with imports reaching 4.2 million tons in 2013 because sorghum is a low-cost alternative to corn and will remain a major importer of sorghum for the next decade. China's barley imports were 2.2 million tons in 2012 and doubled to 4.9 million tons in 2013. Barley imports are likely to remain large by 2024. Barley demand comes from feed industry and beer processing industry.