Chinese pork sector in the process of world economy globalization / Chiński sektor mięsa wieprzowego w procesie globalizacji gospodarki światowej

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Publishing House of Wrocław University of Economics
Wrocław 2016
Asian Economies
in the Context of Globalization
PRACE NAUKOWE
Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wrocławiu
RESEARCH PAPERS
of Wrocław University of Economics
Nr
447

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ISSN 1899-3192
e-ISSN 2392-0041
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Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................... 7
Part 1. Asian Economies in the Global Context
Tadeusz Sporek: The dimensions and features in the economy and politics
of the contemporary world / Wymiary i cechy gospodarki i polityki we
współczesnym świecie ................................................................................ 11
Małgorzata Bartosik-Purgat: Social media as a source of information about
products and services in the light of cross-cultural research in China, Po-
land and United States / Media społecznościowe jako źródło informacji
o produktach i usługach w świetle badań międzykulturowych w Chinach,
Polsce i Stanach Zjednoczonych ................................................................ 22
Elżbieta Majchrowska: Mega-regional blocs in global trade – from noodle
bowl to jigsaw puzzle – the RCEP case / Megaregionalne bloki w handlu
globalnym – od „noodle bowl” do „jigsaw puzzle” – przypadek RCEP .... 32
Joanna Skrzypczyńska: Market Economy Status for China in anti-dumping
procedures – what is really matters? / Status gospodarki rynkowej dla
Chin w procedurach antydumpingowych – dlaczego jest ważny? ............. 46
Grzegorz Mazur: EU-India Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement –
stumbling blocks on the way to consensus / Dwustronne porozumienie
w sprawie handlu i inwestycji między UE a Indiami – przeszkody na dro-
dze do konsensu .......................................................................................... 55
Katarzyna Kita: Polish agri-food products and their international compe-
titiveness in trade with ASEAN – the context of the trade-liberalization
process / Polski handel zagraniczny artykułami rolno-spożywczymi
z ASEAN i ich pozycja konkurencyjna w warunkach liberalizacji świato-
wego handlu rolnego ................................................................................... 67
Part 2. Asian Economies in the Regional Context
Paweł Pasierbiak: Trade regionalization in contemporary East Asia / Regio-
nalizacja handlowa we współczesnej Azji Wschodniej .............................. 83
Sebastian Bobowski: Another insight into Asian trade regionalism. ASEAN-
-Japan economic partnership / Kolejny wgląd w azjatycki regionalizm
handlowy: partnerstwo gospodarcze ASEAN-Japonia ............................... 95

6 Spis treści
Anna Kuropka, Anna H. Jankowiak: The impact of natural disasters on eco-
nomy and production networks in ASEAN / Wpływ katastrof naturalnych
na gospodarkę i sieci produkcyjne w ASEAN ............................................ 111
Małgorzata Żmuda: Evaluating sustainability and transferability of the “Sin-
gaporean Competitiveness Model”: Lessons for the catching-up European
states / Ocena ,,Singapurskiego Modelu Konkurencyjności”: lekcje dla
europejskich gospodarek doganiających .................................................... 123
Part 3. Asian Economies in the Local Context
Joanna Bogołębska: China as an immature creditor country – the dilemmas
for its monetary policy / Chiny jako niedojrzały kredytodawca – dylematy
ich polityki monetarnej ............................................................................... 137
Artur Klimek: Cross-border mergers and acquisitions by Chinese state-con-
trolled enterprises / Fuzje i przejęcia zagraniczne przeprowadzone przez
chińskie przedsiębiorstwa państwowe ........................................................ 147
Sebastian Stępień, Agnieszka Sapa: Chinese pork sector in the process of
world economy globalization / Chiński sektor mięsa wieprzowego w pro-
cesie globalizacji gospodarki światowej ..................................................... 156
Iwona Sobol: Development of Islamic banking in Indonesia / Rozwój banko-
wości islamskiej w Indonezji ...................................................................... 168
Marta Kightley: Why the regime change in North Korea will not come from
society – an evolutionary game theory explanation / Dlaczego zmiana re-
żimu w Korei Północnej nie nastąpi pod wpływem społeczeństwa – wyjaś-
nienie za pomocą ewolucyjnej teorii gier ................................................... 178

Introduction
It is our great pleasure to deliver another volume of Research Papers on Asia-Pacific
economic issues. Each year we present you multiple points of view on that topic,
trying to show how much the processes in Asia & Pacific affect the world economy.
After nine years of hosting international scientific conference dealing with that
region’s affairs, we are still confident that these issues are important not only for the
countries of the region, but also for economies worldwide.
This year we have chosen for you 15 articles. All of them where submitted for
this year’s conference entitled “Asian Economies in the Context of Globalization”.
Seeing that some authors describe the issues of countrywide importance and others of
those having regional or global meaning, we have decided to group them according
to the criterion of impact range.
The first chapter – Asian Economies in the Global Context – is a collection of
papers on general regionalization or globalization issues. T. Sporek is trying to refresh
the view of the globalization processes occurring at the crossroads of economy and
politics. M. Bartosik-Purgat is analyzing sources of information about products and
services in the light of cross-cultural research. E. Majchrowska is using Regional
Comprehensive Economic Partnership case to show the importance of mega-regional
blocks in global trade. In addition, we decided to add to this part the articles the subject
of which is not so general, but it applies to trade relationships of a global nature. This
will be the EU-India trade and investment agreement (G. Mazur), Poland-ASEAN
agri-food products trade (K. Kita) or anti-dumping procedures against China under
WTO rules (J. Skrzypczyńska).
Articles in the second chapter are – as the title implies – embedded in a regional
context. P. Pasierbiak deals with trade regionalization in East Asia. S. Bobowski
offers an insight into ASEAN-Japan Economic Partnership. A. Kuropka and
A.H. Jankowiak analyse the impact of natural disasters on production networks in
the region. As the last in this section we have placed the article about Singaporean
Competitiveness Model applied in European economies (M. Żmuda). It may be not
strictly connected with Asia & Pacific, but its concept is to transfer Asian experience
to Europe at the regional level.
The last chapter – Asian Economies in the Local Context – is mostly about
domestic matters of Asian countries. You will find there three articles about China
(J. Bogołębska writing about Chinese monetary policy, A. Klimek describing cross-
border mergers and acquisitions by Chinese state-controlled enterprises, S. Stępień
and A. Sapa showing Chinese pork sector), one about Indonesia (Development of
Islamic banking in Indonesia by I. Sobol) and one about North Korea (M. Kightley
applying game theory in prediction of political changes in that state).

8 Introduction
We think it is an interesting set of papers you will find valuable in your studies.
We also hope that your scientific interests will continue to be associated with Asia
and that is why we invite you to the 10th anniversary conference which will be held
at the Wrocław University of Economics in November 2017.
We appreciate your time and consideration, as also time and effort of our peer
reviewers. We look forward to the further submissions of interesting papers on Asia
& Pacific. Thank you!
Bogusława Drelich-Skulska, Anna H. Jankowiak, Szymon Mazurek

PRACE NAUKOWE UNIWERSYTETU EKONOMICZNEGO WE WROCŁAWIU
RESEARCH PAPERS OF WROCŁAW UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS nr 447 • 2016
Asian Economies in the Context of Globalization ISSN
1899-3192
e-ISSN 2392-0041
Sebastian Stępień, Agnieszka Sapa
Poznań University of Economics and Business
e-mails: {sebastian.stepien; a.sapa}@ue.poznan.pl
CHINESE PORK SECTOR IN THE PROCESS
OF WORLD ECONOMY GLOBALIZATION
CHIŃSKI SEKTOR MIĘSA WIEPRZOWEGO
W PROCESIE GLOBALIZACJI GOSPODARKI
ŚWIATOWEJ
DOI: 10.15611/pn.2016.447.13
Summary: The main aim of the paper is to assess the role of China in the world pork market
in the context of the globalization process. We analyse the Chinese pork industry against
global conditions for pork production. Supply-demand and price relationships in the pork
market in China are identified as well as the trends in the foreign trade of pork meat. The study
uses data for the years 1992–2014 from the statistical databases such as FAO, OECD and
WITS. National and foreign literature is used in the article. Research methods include critical
analysis of literature, meta-analysis and elements of inductive inference. The survey shows
that the role of China in the global pork supply and demand has been increasing during recent
years. At the same time one could observe a change of relation between these variables – since
2008 excess of demand over supply has been noticed. This results in a foreign trade deficit,
and the scale of this deficit is increasing systematically.
Keywords: pork sector, China, supply, demand, prices, foreign trade, globalization.
Streszczenie: Głównym celem publikacji jest określenie roli Chin na światowym rynku mię-
sa wieprzowego w warunkach globalizacji. Analizie poddano relacje podażowo-popytowe
i cenowe, a także tendencje w handlu zagranicznym wieprzowiną. W studiach wykorzystano
dane z lat 1992–2014 pochodzące z baz statystycznych FAO, OECD i WITS, a także krajową
i zagraniczną literaturę przedmiotu. Metody badawcze obejmują krytyczną analizę danych
źródłowych, metaanalizę oraz elementy wnioskowania indukcyjnego. Badania wskazują, że
ostatnio rola China w globalnej podaży i popycie znacznie wzrosła. Jednocześnie można za-
uważyć zmianę relacji dwóch wspomnianych zmiennych – od 2008 r. notuje się nadwyżkę
popytu nad podażą. Rezultatem tego jest ujemny bilans handlu zagranicznego wieprzowiną,
a skala tego deficytu sukcesywnie wzrasta.
Słowa kluczowe: sektor wieprzowiny, Chiny, podaż, popyt, ceny, handel zagraniczny, glo-
balizacja.

Chinese pork sector in the process of world economy globalization 157
1. Introduction
In today’s world a key factor of the agriculture development is the process of
globalization. It is expressed in the abolition of all border barriers to the allocation
of production factors, production itself, as well as the distribution of agricultural
products [Sobiecki 2013]. The creation of organizations, such as the EU, NAFTA,
ASEAN, MERCOSUR and others, and a consensus within the WTO made the
process more dynamic, emphasizing broader access to foreign markets. In the
situation of global domination of industrial food corporations the capital moves to
the regions with the circumstances of cheaper production. These companies, guided
by the primacy of economic efficiency, seek to maximize profits by concentrating
production, standardization of raw materials, ignoring environmental and social
issues in their economic accounts. Lowering unit costs and increasing productivity
became the criterion of competitive advantage [Hayami, Ruttan 1985].
This type of look at the agriculture development dominates in many regions of
the world (the USA, Asia and South America), while in others (i.e. the European
Union) a new paradigm for the functioning of the sector begins to play the growing
role. It assumes multidirectional purposes of agriculture, also satisfying social and
cultural needs of people, and the care for the environment (see also [Zegar 2012;
Czyżewski, Stępień 2013]). As a result, on a global scale there are two options for
the functioning of agriculture, and each of them proclaims a different approach to the
realization of competitive advantages. Neoliberal option of industrial agriculture is
looking for them in the lowest cost of production, the second – sustainable agriculture
– in the emphasis on the quality and delivery of various types of public goods in
the process of food production (natural environment, biodiversity resistance, animal
welfare, etc.).
Regardless of the accepted doctrine of agriculture development factor, which
in the long run shapes the functioning of agribusiness on a global scale, is the
increase in production costs. On the one hand, this is the result of growing customer
requirements for a high quality of products and compliance with environmental
criteria. On the other hand, a relatively rapid increase in world population during the
last decades increases demand for food and leads to an increase in price. To some
extent the reason for the increase in prices is speculation in agricultural commodity
markets, development of the production of biofuels made from the raw materials,
and climate change which destabilizes the market. Taking into account the decisions
of agricultural producers, the crucial issue is a relationship between changes in food
prices (the prices of traded commodities) and the cost of production (prices of goods
and services purchased by farmers), which determines the rate of price scissors.
However, while production costs continue to vary on a global scale, prices tend
to unify as a result of globalization and liberalization of world trade. That is why
the international capital is moving toward regions with the lower costs of usage of
production factors.

158 Sebastian Stępień, Agnieszka Sapa
The processes of globalization, growth of average incomes of households in
the world and identified demographic changes enforce therefore not only changes
in the markets of various agricultural products, but also in consumer demand
(e.g. increased consumption of meat in the relation to vegetable products). The
transformation is particularly evident in developing countries, and processes
occurring in these economies determine the changes of internal and external supply-
demand relationship. Against this background, particularly interesting changes in the
pork market refer to the largest developing economy. Therefore, the main aim of this
article is to assess the role of China in the global pork market in the context of the
globalization process. We analyse the Chinese pork industry against global conditions
for pork production. In addition, supply-demand and price relationships in the pork
market in China are identified as well as the trends in the foreign trade of pork meat.
The study uses national and foreign literature and the data for the years 1992–2014
from the statistical databases of FAO, OECD and WITS. Research methods include
critical analysis of literature, meta-analysis and elements of inductive inference.
2. Global conditions for pig meat production
Direct factors shaping the situation in the pork market in recent years have been:
an increase in demand for meat on a global scale (although to some extent limited
in 2008–2009 as a result of the economic crisis1), the development of international
trade and changing geographical structure of exports and imports, rising production
costs (mainly feed), increasing requirements for environmental protection and
quality of the meat. The upward trend in pig production mainly concerned those
regions of the world, which were characterized by high economic growth, combined
with the increase in disposable income of the population, as well as those who had
an advantage in terms of production costs and/or prices in foreign trade. These
were mainly developing countries, such as China, Brazil, Vietnam, the Philippines,
Mexico, Russia (accounting for approximately 60% of global consumption of pork).
In total, during the period 1990–2015, the growth in pork production in the world
in developing countries has exceeded 240%, with the average for the world at 85%
and 30% for developed countries.2 Among the latter, the increase in supply in the
long term occurred in the United States, but the pace of growth slowed after 2008.
In the European Union the supply of pigs has stabilized at approximately 22–23
million tons of meat annually, oscillating in subsequent years due to changes in
the profitability of raising, although in some countries (e.g. in Poland) there was
noticeable decline in pigs population [Stępień 2011].
1 A manifestation of the crisis was the decline in global exports of pork from 6.97 million tons in
2008 to 6.44 million tons in 2009 and a decline in average prices in foreign trade in the same period
from $1.46/kg to $1.26/kg (in carcass weight) [stats.oecd.org].
2 On the basis of OECD-FAO data [stats.oecd.org].

Chinese pork sector in the process of world economy globalization 159
The factor influencing the global pig production is the economic situation in
the world, determined by the rate of growth and level of disposable income, which
in turn shapes the demand for pork. The impetus for the growth of supply is also
a high natural population growth recorded in developing countries. In addition, with
increasing prosperity in these regions there is a change in consumption patterns –
substitution of plan origin food by animal origin products – resulting in growing
demand for both pork and plant raw materials connected to the production of fodder
[Stępień 2013].
We should also mention the exchange rates (the importance of this factor
increases with the growth of world trade), including in particular the US dollar as the
common currency for most transactions in agricultural commodities. For example, the
depreciation of dollar was one of the impulses increasing the world prices for food in
2007–2008 and 2010–2011 [Plantier 2012; Cardwell, Barichello 2009]. At the same
time, relations of exchange rates, coupled with the price of production factors, affect
the flow of capital toward countries with relatively low production costs, mainly
Asian and South America countries. Regions that have traditionally dominated the
production and foreign trade of food products (Western European countries, the
United States) lose today their advantage resulting from higher production efficiency
and they are forced to look for other sources of competitiveness.
This situation is also the result of the expansion of transnational corporations
that invest capital where profits achieved are the highest. This means, among other,
extending the way for food processing, the way “from farm to table.” It creates
a temptation to obtain additional revenues through less cost, including distribution
of food of inferior quality. This is even more likely with long distribution channels
that make it difficult to track and monitor the food chain [Stępień 2011]. Production
is placed therefore in the regions which guarantee lower labour and material costs
and in the regions for which the location factors for crops and animal husbandry are
the minimum requirements for environmental and applied technologies [Kowalczyk
2010]. It should be noted that a positive result of this process in the long run may
be the reduction of the development gap between developed and developing regions
[Boehlje 2009].
3. Chinese pork sector in process of globalization
Conditions of the pork production mentioned above exist in relation to the Chinese
market. China is the largest producer and consumer of pork in the world. It makes up
about half of the global supply of this kind of meat and the same is their demand. In
2014 production amounted to 56.7 million tonnes, whereas the level of consumption
57.2 million tons (per capita consumption of 32 kg). Since the early nineties these
values increased 2.5-fold. Due to the size of the population and its dynamic growth
in recent years, pigs breeding in China today does not ensure self-sufficiency in
terms of domestic consumption, so the country is a major importer of pork meat,

160 Sebastian Stępień, Agnieszka Sapa
mainly in the years of pig population decline. The continuing imbalance of demand
is a factor influencing the pork prices, the level of which is steadily increasing,
and raises the overall rate of consumer inflation [BPEX 2012]. Another problem is
high feed prices,3 depleting natural resources (land and water) and environmental
requirements. In response to these trends, the Chinese government runs a number of
intervention instruments.4 At the same time the market forces the concentration of
the processes of production, and small scale breeding is disappearing because of the
development of industrial farms.
In China, as in many developing countries, the progressing urbanization process
of the population occurs [Best 2013]. On the one hand, such situation stimulates
the development of the pork sector due to the increase of household’s income from
non-agricultural job and consumption of more protein products coming also from
meat. On the other hand, the migration of population from rural to urban areas causes
a loss of the agricultural labour force and increases production costs. To preserve
the competitiveness of the pig meat sector, it will be necessary to achieve higher
efficiency of the raw materials production. It will force the concentration of land
and increase the scale of operations. The existing structure of pig farms, which was
dominated by peasant farms, has been already replaced gradually by more specialized
bodies.
The process of restructuring of the meat sector in China, consisting of uneven
decline in production in small farms together with the continued growth in domestic
demand for pig meat, leads to an imbalance in the market of raw material and
causes price fluctuations. Since a large part of the supply comes from the small
scale farming, changes in market situation imply further reactions of agricultural
producers. So we have a kind of feedback loop – the impulse in the form of supply
changes induces price mechanism that becomes a cause of further adjustments in
production. However, as long pig farming in China will be based on small farms, so
long cyclical fluctuations will take place in a violent manner.
Increasing globalization process forces the transformation of the domestic market
towards the industrialization of the agricultural sector, creating new coordinated
business models, such as vertical integration. It is conditioned by profitability of
large-scale farming, as well as the need to ensure food security and to control the
marketing chain in the sector. A key role in this process is played by companies
3 Only in 2006–2010 the cost of feed to produce one kilogram of pork in China rose on average
from $0.55 to $1 (see: [Gale et al. 2012]).
4 Examples of the support of the Chinese government are: subsidies and tax exemptions for invest-
ment projects for pig producers (e.g. the modernization of farm buildings, increasing scale of produc-
tion), VAT exemption on purchases of feed, exemption from income tax for meat processors, subsidies
for environmental investments, subsidies to sows insurance, subsiding the interest rate for loans, grants
for the promotion of foreign trade, grants for research and technical progress. Besides, in 2007, a sys-
tem of state reserves was created, and since 2008 the government has had a system for monitoring the
prices of pork [Xie 2012].

Chinese pork sector in the process of world economy globalization 161
with foreign capital forcing out the small-scale farms. The latter give up production
due to the high risk of economic activity (variable profitability of farming) and of
the crises associated with animal diseases occurring occasionally. This involves
the disappearance of domestic pig breeds and their replacement by foreign animal
breeds whose genetic material allows for achieving better indicators of productivity
of farming. It is estimated that 50% of new races (including the Duroc, Landrace,
Yorkshire, Hampshire and DeKalb particularly) comes from the US, 20–30% from
Canada, and further 10% from the EU countries.
Within the development of vertical integration, the breeding companies sell
contracted breeding pigs to the producers of finishers. Then those producers deliver
ready to slaughter animals to the meat processors according to previously signed
contracts. An increasingly important role is also attributed to the vertical integration
backwards. Part retail chains (e.g. Walmart, Carrefour) sign permanent contracts with
processors to supply product range, in order to control the production chain, which is
important in the context of the quality requirements set by customers [Nelson 2012].
4. The supply-demand relations, prices and trade
In the years 1990–2014 the production of pig meat in China has increased from 23
million tons to nearly 57 million tons. On the basis of matching trend line it can
be concluded that the average annual increase amounted to 1.27 million tons. The
conducted analysis allows us to state that the functions of the changes in production
in China and in the world are similar (see Figure 1). It can therefore be concluded
that the economic situation in China shapes the global supply of pork. The growth
of pig meat supply in China accounted for over 60% of the world growth, and the
estimated Pearson’s correlation coefficient for the two time series amounted to 0.79.5
Higher Chinese production, firstly, is the result of the increase in consumption per
capita (from 15 to 32 kg per year) stimulated by the income, the changes in the
structure and style of consumption and the process of urbanization. Secondly it is
the effect of demographic change (the increase in the population of 1165 million to
1386 million).6 The growth rate of pig meat production and demand was similar,
but with a predominance of the latter. In the nineties and early twenty-first century
the volume of production exceeded domestic demand, but these relationships have
changed in recent years (see Figure 2). Such a new situation occurred in 2008 for
the first time, and since 2011 the production deficit remained sustained although its
scale has increased in subsequent years (according to the OECD forecasts the deficit
is expected to reach 600 thousand tons in 2015).
5 S. Stępień indicates that this type of relationship was average or poor for other countries or re-
gions (e.g. the EU). In some cases the negative correlation was observed [Stępień 2015].
6 According to X. Xiam and T. Xiangyoung [2000] the most important determinants of increase of
pig meat prices are income per capita and rise of China population.

162 Sebastian Stępień, Agnieszka Sapa
y= 1269.3x+ 24347
R² = 0.962
y= 2091.7x+ 65412
R² = 0.9863
0
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Prices China and World
(USD/ton in live weight)
Production China and World
(thousand tons)
Production China Production World
Prices China Prices World
Figure 1. Production and prices of pig meat in China compared to the world in 1990–2014
(thousand tons, USD/ton in live weight)
Source: own elaboration on the basis of OECD [stats.oecd.org] and FAO data [faostat.fao.org].
0
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Prices (USD/ton in live weight)
Production, demand (thousand tons)
production demand prices
Figure 2. Production, demand and prices of pig meat in China in 1990–2014
(thousand tons, USD/ton in live weight)
Source: own elaboration on the basis of OECD [stats.oecd.org] and FAO data [faostat.fao.org].
Growing disparities are also the result of the previously described structural
transformations in the pig sector connected with the elimination of small-scale

Chinese pork sector in the process of world economy globalization 163
farms. Under global pressure to improve management efficiency accompanying by
rising operating costs and the need to take into account the economic calculation of
the natural environment, small producers reduce the breeding of pigs. The effect is
a reduction in the basic herd, which may result in lower population growth rate and
meat supply in subsequent years.7
The immediate effect of the tendencies mentioned above was a six-fold increase
in the price of pig meat in the Chinese market (from almost $400 per ton at the
beginning of the nineties to nearly $2400 per ton in 2013). It is noteworthy that
during the first few years of the period 1990–2013 the world prices8 were going
down and after 2002 they bounced (see Figure 1). But in the end, their level in 2013
(less than $1600) only slightly exceeds that of 1990. Thus, in contrast to the supply,
the prices of pig meat in China are not shaping up as world prices and are not follow
them. They are just determined by internal factors. The point is that the pig sector
has been rapidly transformed in the last few years and it has also a different support
system (developed interventionism). In addition, Chinese pig sector is much more
susceptible to crises caused to animal diseases or even climatic conditions.9
However the fact is that China has transformed from a country competitive in
terms of price towards a country where prices are among the highest in the world.10
This makes the Chinese market to be attractive for large foreign meat companies
that locate their production directly in this region or try to increase its share in the
Chinese export of pig meat. The domestic pig industry is also developed with the
largest company of this kind in the world – WH Group Limited (formerly Shuanghui
International Holdings Limited).11 So, the effect of globalization is the change of the
traditional production model into the industrial one with all the economic, social and
environmental consequences.
Although China produces most pig meat on a global scale, it is not self-sufficient
in this scope. Changes in the production system do not guarantee enough domestic
7 Clear signs of slowdown of the pig population growth were recorded in 2015. According to the
US Department of Agriculture (USDA) the pig population in China may fall by more than 40 million
in 2015 [https://www.agra-net.net/agra/agra-europe].
8 The world price was indicated as the average price of the 12 leading exporting countries weight-
ed by the share of each country in the global export of pig meat. The US dollar was adopted as the
currency of reference (prices in local currency were converted at the official rate of the dollar).
9 This was the case in 2007, when the annual increase in purchase prices of livestock, expressed in
US dollars amounted to more than 130% and was primarily due to a reduction in pig population affected
by PRRS virus epidemic (i.e. blue ear disease). In the following months there was a further decrease of
the herd as a result of a long and cold winter in the Southeastern provinces of China (Guangxi, Hunan
and Jiangxi) and the earthquake in Sichuan Province. That is why prices remained at a high level for the
next period [The Story… 2007; McOrist et al. 2011].
10 For example higher prices are in Japan, Switzerland, Norway and Italy. In countries with the
highest share in the world export of raw materials (e.g. the USA, Canada, Brazil, Germany, Denmark,
the Netherlands, Spain) the prices are lower.
11 See website: [http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140121005322/en/Shuanghui-Inter-
national-WH-Group].

164 Sebastian Stępień, Agnieszka Sapa
supply of pork to meet growing consumer demand. As a result, the changes in the
foreign trade of pig meat are observed. According to the OECD data, even in the
early 90s of the 20th century, China exported more pork to the third countries than
imported (see Figure 3). This situation changed in the second half of the first decade
of the 21st century, when China became a net importer of pig meat. In 2014, the trade
deficit in the pig meat trade amounted to over 400 thousand tons.
-600
-400
-200
0
200
400
600
800
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Thousend tons
Imports Exports Trade balance
Figure 3. Export, import and trade balance of Chinese pig meat in 1990-2014 (thousand tons)
Source: own elaboration on the basis of OECD data [stats.oecd.org].
Such trends are also evident in terms of value of pig meat trade. In the years
1992–2014 the value of export of pig meat from China increased from more than
$470 million to over $1.3 billion. In the same period, the higher import dynamic
resulted in an increase in the value of import of this group of products from less
than $1 million to nearly $2.5 billion (see Table 1). As a result, since 2008 China has
converted from a net exporter to a net importer of pig meat.12 It also meant a decline
in the share of Chinese export of pig meat in the agri-food export of China (from
4.5% to 2% in the years 1992–2014) and world export of pig meat (respectively from
4.8% to 2.8%). In the case of import of pig meat, there was a corresponding increase
of more than 2 and 5 p.p. (see Table 1). In 2012–2014, the main suppliers of pig
meat to China were the United States, Denmark, Germany, Canada and Spain. Their
combined average share in the value of China’s import of pig meat stood at over
12 A similar tendency characterized the agri-food trade of China. The agri-food trade showed
a growing imbalance since 2008. In 2014 it amounted to almost –39.5 billion US dollars. In the years
1992–2014 the value of agri-food export of China increased more than 6.5 times, while for import it
was nearly 26.5 times. In the analysed period, China from a net agri-food exporter has become a net
importer of this product group. At this time the share of Chinese agri-food export in the global agri-food
trade stood at a relatively stable level, but the share of import increased more than 4 times.

Chinese pork sector in the process of world economy globalization 165
80%.13 At the same time, almost 82% of Chinese pig meat were exported to Hong
Kong (68%) and Japan (14%).
Table 1. Chinese international trade of pig meat in 1992–2014 (million US dollars, %)
Trade 1992 1997 2002 2007 2012 2013 2014
Trade of pig meat (milion US dollars)
Export 471.9 605.3 558.6 909.8 1 231.9 1 255.2 1 374.9
Import 0.7 5.6 131.8 472.6 2 472.6 2 660.5 2 486.1
Trade balance 471.3 599.6 426.9 437.2 –1 240.6 –1 405.3 –1 111.2
Share of pig meat trade in agri-food trade of China (%)
Export 4.5 4.2 3.2 2.6 2.0 1.9 2.0
Import 0.0 0.1 1.3 1.4 2.6 2.6 2.3
Share of Chinese trade of pig meat in the world pig meat trade (%)
Export 4.8 3.7 3.4 2.8 2.6 2.6 2.8
Import 0.0 0.0 0.8 1.5 5.3 5.7 5.3
Source: own calculations based on WITS data [http://wits.worldbank.org/].
Table 2. The biggest world exporters and importers of pig meat in 2012–2014 (%)
Share in the world pig meat export (%) Share in the world pig meat import (%)
1 Germany 15.7 Japan 11.5
2 United States 12.8 Germany 10.1
3 Denmark 11.1 United Kingdom 6.4
4Netherlands 9.9 Italy 6.3
5Spain 9.1 Russian Federation 5.7
6Canada 7.3 China 5.4
7Belgium 5.1 Hong Kong, China 5.4
8 France 3.6 Poland 4.7
9 Poland 3.4 France 4.1
10 Brazil 3.0 United States 4.1
Source: own calculations based on WITS data [http://wits.worldbank.org/].
Observed trends in the pork market (including the relation of supply and demand
in a given country or region of the world) are reflected in the geographical structure
of foreign trade. They have also changed the position of China in the world trade. In
2012–2014 China was in the top ten importers of pig meat (see Table 2). It recorded
(together with Russia) the largest increase in its share of world imports compared to
13 In 2012–2014 the average share of the US in Chinese import of pig meat (in terms of value)
amounted to about 35%, for Denmark 15%, Germany 14%, Canada 10%, and Spain 9%.

166 Sebastian Stępień, Agnieszka Sapa
1992–1994.14 At the end of the analysed period the importance of Japan, Germany,
Great Britain and the United States decreased. In the top 10 world’s largest exporters
of pig meat the EU countries, USA and Brazil dominated. China was placed in the
12th place, while in 1992–1994 it was still among the top 10 exporters.
5. Conclusions
Based on the survey, the following conclusions can be drawn:
• The role of China in the global pork market has been increasing during recent
years. Factors stimulating the increase of supply are both internal and external.
• Internal factors are associated with the increase in the wealth of the society,
which implies a growth in demand for meat. At the same time the sector
experienced restructuring process related to the development of scale farming
and land concentration.
• External factors arise, among others, from the process of globalization. They
are associated with the flow of capital towards China (due to the lower cost of
activity) and the development of industrial methods of production in international
corporations.
• The determinant of the foreign trade is the relation between domestic demand
and supply. In the analysed period there was a change in the proportions of these
variables – since 2008 excess of demand over supply has been observed. This results
in a foreign trade deficit, and the scale of this deficit is increasing systematically.
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