INDIA URGES CHINA TO DROP RAPESEED BAN

XIAN NEW DELHI — India has urged China to drop a years-long ban on rapeseed meal imports from the South Asian nation at a meeting with government officials and feedmakers as it aims to boost sales of critical farm goods amid growing US-China trade tensions.

The meeting was held at India’s embassy in Beijing on Wednesday, according to an Indian government official and a soymeal purchasing manager at a pig farmer who attended and spoke to Reuters on the sidelines of an industry conference here on Thursday.

The aim was to lobby China to resume purchases of rapeseed meal, a key ingredient in animal feed, and to drum up interest in the country’s other major agricultural products, the two said. China was the biggest buyer of Indian rapeseed meal until Beijing banned the purchases in late 2011 over quality concerns. China imported Indian oilseeds worth $161 million in 2011.