Vegetable meat and the future of agro for Brazil's trading partner - China, by Ronaldo Lemos

China, a trading partner of Brazilian agribusiness, wants to increase its food independence. If there is one area in which Brazil is clearly competitive globally, it is agribusiness. However, it would be irresponsible to believe that the current economic success of Brazilian agriculture will last forever. Geopolitical, technological, innovation and consumer preference changes threaten Brazil's bet on the sector. First, it is worth remembering that the success of agribusiness happens in direct correlation with China's economic rise. In 1980, China imported 16.4% of the soy it consumed. In 2020 this volume reached 84.1% according to FAO data. It's no small thing. China now needs to feed 18% of the world's population, but has only 6.5% of arable land. Brazil took this opportunity to establish itself as a supplier, assuaging part of this demand. However, since 2021 the topic of food independence has been growing rapidly in China. In this sense, the five-year plan launched in 2021 is ...