China Purchases Additional 250,000 Tons of U.S. Soybeans, Accelerates Trade Agreement Implementation [Gyeongju APEC]

Implementation Begins Just One Day After the Summit

On October 30, just one day after the U.S.-China summit, China purchased an additional 250,000 tons of U.S. soybeans, accelerating the implementation of the trade agreement between the two countries. This move is being interpreted as the first follow-up achievement resulting from the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

On October 30 (local time), Bloomberg News reported, citing sources, that "China has purchased at least four cargo shiploads, totaling 250,000 tons, of U.S. soybeans following the trade talks between President Trump and President Xi." The soybeans China purchased this time are scheduled to be shipped from ports in the Pacific Northwest and Gulf terminals of the United States at the end of this year and early next year.

President Xi Jinping, during the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit held in Gyeongju, South Korea, agreed with President Trump at a bilateral summit at the Air Force base inside Gimhae Airport in Busan on October 30 to refrain from escalating the trade war. As part of this agreement, China decided to immediately purchase U.S. agricultural products, including soybeans.

After the summit, President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on his way back to the United States that "China will purchase a tremendous amount of U.S. soybeans." Brooke Rollins, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, stated in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that China agreed to purchase at least 12 million tons of U.S. soybeans within this year and at least 25 million tons annually over the next three years.

China's state-owned grain company, COFCO Group, also signaled a normalization of trade by starting to purchase 180,000 tons of U.S. soybeans produced this year ahead of the U.S.-China summit. Including the latest purchase, the total volume of recent U.S. soybean transactions by China has reached approximately 430,000 tons.

However, some point out that even if China fulfills its promised purchase of U.S. soybeans for this year, the total volume will still not recover to previous levels (25 million tons annually). Brian Grete, senior grain analyst at Comstock, explained to Bloomberg, "Even if China purchases 12,000 tons this year, it represents a significant decrease from a historical perspective," adding, "An annual purchase volume of 25,000 tons would essentially mean a return to normal levels."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.