Japan starts exporting Hokkaido’s Yumepirika rice to Chinese market: media report

Japan is scheduled to start exporting rice produced in Hokkaido to China on Tuesday, Japanese news site cn.nikkei. com reported.

Experts said it shows that China is stepping up efforts to advance regional cooperation in agricultural trade, which could help the country ease some pressure from the ChinaUS trade tensions.

Exported from Hokkaido, a total of 12 tons of brand-name Yumepirika rice, will be sold in Shanghai, the report said.

China has always been open toward trade with foreign countries and strengthening cooperation in the agricultural sector could help it build a sound external environment for its trade growth across the globe, Ma Wenfeng, a senior analyst at the Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultancy, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The amount of Japanese rice exports to China is quite small in the previous years, Ma said, adding that “if the quality of the product can be secured, importing rice from Japan can meet diversified demands in the Chinese market.”

Given the trade tensions between China and the US, enhancing regional cooperation in the agriculture industry could help China offset some supply pressure, an industry insider surnamed Du said.

But what matters is that China should improve its agricultural production standard and technology to boost its capacity to meet market demands, Du told the Global Times Tuesday.

Thanks to the agreement reached by China and Japan in May, the number of rice processing facilities that Japan can use for export increased.