China: Livestock and Products Semi-annual
China leads the world in pork production and consumption and is also a major destination for pork exports. Import demand is supported by Chinese pork processors utilizing lower cost imports to produce products for the domestic market. To reflect the increased imports, post adjusted 2015 imports upwards to 1 million tons and further increased the 2016 forecast to 1.3 million tons. Post increased the 2016 beef consumption forecast to 7.5 million tons, up from the previous forecast of 7.4 million tons, and revised the 2016 beef import forecast upwards to 750,000 tons to reflect strong consumer demand.