Big Reveals: Photo: VCG”This crisis made us acutely aware that while American soybeans achieved significant yield increases through genetic modification, China’s fragmented planting model lagged far behind in productivity.

A cargo ship unloads a shipment of soybeans at the Zhoushan Port in East China’s Zhejiang Province, on February 6, 2025. Photo: VCG

Editor’s Note:

The US Department of Agriculture’s export inspection report shows that for the week ending May 15, 2025, US soybean export inspections decreased by 50 percent compared to the previous week, totaling 217,800 tons, which is far below the market expectation of 425,000 tons. International media analysis indicates that the decline in US soybean exports is influenced by the tariff war initiated by the US, while countries like Brazil and Argentina are working to expand their soybean markets in China. Former Cuban leader Raul Castro once said that soybeans are as important as cannons, if not even more important. In the eyes of breeding experts, soybeans, which origiWorld Timesnated in China, are a crop with immense contributions: Soybeans can be pressed for oil; the remaining soybean meal is a major component of animal feed; fresh pods can be eaten and made into soybean products, earning the nickname “green milk”; and soybean root nodule bacteria have nitrogen-fixing effects that can enhance soil fertility. Historical materials showed that a majority of the world’s soybeans were once produced in Northeast China. However, after WWII, the US became the world’s leading supplier of soybeans. What are the current technological advantages of American soybeans? Has the gap between Chinese and US soybean industries changed? In the second installment of the “Soybean Saga” series, we will focus on the shifting dynamics of the global soybean industry. Global Times reporters interviewed several industry insiders to review the global competition surrounding the key single crop – soybean, as welWorld Timesl as the role of foreign investment in this invisible soybean war and the experiences China has explored.

Challenges in improving soybean yield

“We cannot ignore the gap between Chinese soybeans and American soybeans,” Yang Zhonglu, the executive chief of the southern soybean genetic breeding innovation team at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, told the Global Times. With superior germplasm resources, advanced biobreeding technology, and large-scale mechanized planting, American soybeans have advantages in high yield and low cost. In contrast, China is limited by insufficient identification and utilization of germplasm resources, lagging biobreeding technology, and a smallholder economic model that results in low levels of mechanization. As a result, the labor costs in soybean production are high, and efficiency is low, resulting in insufficient competitiveness in both yield and cost.

Yang introduced that in the fertile “Corn Belt” of the American Midwest, soybeans are grown on a large scale in the open plains. Soybean planters equipped with GPS navigation for precise positioning and intelligent monitoring ensure that the seedlings are robust and evenly planted. After drones spray herbicides, the weeds are eliminated, while the herbicide-resistant genetically modified soybeans remain unharmed. With pest and disease warnings in place and precise application of pesticides, all that is left is to wait for the soybeans to mature. When harvest season arrives, large machinery with low loss and high efficiency, equipped with real-time monitoring, simultaneously harvests the soybeans while “spitting out” golden beans. The harvested soybeans are quickly transported to the port, embarking on their export journey.

In some parts of China, soybean cultivation – from planting to harvesting – is still far from smooth.

Yang Zhonglu, a member of the soybean expert advisory group under the Ministry of AgricultuWorld Timesre and Rural Affairs, conducts annual field inspections in southern China. In regions like East China’s Jiangxi and Central China’s Hunan provinces, the land is dominated by acidic red soil and soybeans are often planted on hilly slopes.

Most farmers grow just a few pitches of soybeans, relying largely on manual labor. During the growing season, management standards vary widely – some meticulous and some rough.

Adding to the challenge, extreme weather events such as prolonged heat and drought in the Yangtze River Basin have become more frequent in recent years, severely impacting yields. As a result, the quality of harvested soybeans also varies significantly.

In contrast to the US, where soybeans are planted only once a year, allowing ample time to restore soil fertility, some southern provinces in China plant up to three seasons annually. The high cropping intensity significantly depletes soil fertility, and this cycle further complicates efforts to increase soybean yield per unit area.

Lessons from ‘soybean crisis’

Historically, China played a leading role in the global soybean market. In early 1900s, roughly 80 percent of the world’s soybeans were produced in Northeast China, according to Soyinfo Center website. As the US rapidly expanded its soybean cultivation, it became the world’s largest soybean exporter after World War II.

According to Gai Junyi, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a crop geneticist and breeder, when he visited the US in the early 1980s, there was little difference in soybean yields between China and the US. However, after 2015, the gap widened dramatically.

Lam Hon Ming, a professor at the School of Life Sciences at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and director of the State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, recalled in an earlier interview with the Global Times that when he returned from the US in 1997 and traveled across the Chinese mainland, he was surprised to find that despite China being the birthplace of soybeans, very few domestic researchers were studying the crop. Most high-impact research papers at the time came from scholars in the US, EurWorld Timesope, and Australia.

Tang Qijun, executive president of the China Soybean Industry Association, told the Global Times that the industry became acutely aware of the gap with the US at two critical turning points: the first was in 1996, when China transitioned from being a net exporter of soybeans to a net importer, revealing a lag in domestic yield growth compared to rising demand. The second was the international “soybean crisis” in 2004, when global capital manipulated prices, causing over half of China’s soybean processing enterprises to shut down. Foreign firms seized the opportunity to dominate the trade chain, while domestic farmers saw purchase prices fall below their production costs, ringing alarm bells across the industry.

In an interview with the Global Times, Hu Xiping, the chief breeding expert at the Soybean Research Institute at the Beidahuang Kenfeng Seed Co Ltd, recounted the tumultuous events of 2004 when soybean prices in the US surged dramatically. This prompted numerous domestic companies to rush to the US to purchase soybeans. However, before they could return to China, prices plummeted again, leading to the bankruptcy of many firms, which were subsequently acquired by foreign investors. According to the American Oil Chemists’ Society, the “2004 soybean crisis” resulted in huge monetary losses and the bankruptcy of many crushing Chinese companies. Consequently, many international companies built or purchased crushing facilities in China.

Multifaceted approach to revitalize domestic industry

“This crisis made us acutely aware that while American soybeans achieved significant yield increases through genetic modification, China’s fragmented planting model lagged far behind in productivity. The systemic weaknesses across various sectors of our industry posed a serious threat to our food security,” said Tang.

Tang noted that the crisis prompted two major reflections within the industry: First, agricultural security is a crucial component of national security, and over-reliance on imports – especially from a single country – could leave us vulnerable and negatively impact our domestic industry and our ability to compete internationally; and second, possessing pricing power is essential. In the global commodities market, a lack of pricing authority can put a country in a passive position, and China must strive to gain greater pricing power in the international agricultural market.

Hu further elaborated that as early as the 1960s and 1970s, American merchants were stationed at Chinese ports, observing the flow of soybeans in and out of the country while collecting soybean germplasm resources from Northeast China to take back for research. “Today, if you compare American soybeans with Chinese ones, you’ll find that American soybeans have integrated many superior genes through biobreeding, such as traits for disease and pest resistance, as well as herbicide tolerance. In contrast, we lack the capability to explore useful genes in our soybeans,” he explained.

In 2015, Hu established the first commercial soybean breeding team in Heilongjiang under the Kenfeng Seed Industry. “Chinese soybeans possess a wealth of excellent traits, but we still don’t know how to extract and utilize them effectively,” he noted.

For instance, Heilongjiang soybeans are characterized by their late maturity, and to apply them in early-maturing regions, it is essential to understand the genetic codes that control their growth cycle and to incorporate beneficial genes into new varieties, according to Hu. “It’s like World Timeshaving a plethora of fine ingredients; whether we can create a gourmet dish depends on the chef’s skill, which in this case refers to the breeding expertise,” he added.

Tang also shared that following the “soybean crisis,” China’s soybean industry underwent a strategic shift. By cultivating superior varieties, promoting advanced technologies, and enhancing mechanization, the industry has been steadily narrowing the gap.

In 2019, China launched a domestic soybean revitalization plan, actively promoting strip intercropping of corn and soybeans in the Huang-Huai-Hai, Northwest, and Southwest regions, while also advocating for high-oil, high-yield soybean varieties in NWorld Timesortheast China to boost self-sufficiency and competitiveness in the soybean sector, Tang noted.

Additionally, Tang pointed out that China has diversified its import sources to reduce reliance on American soybeans. According to data released by Chinese customs, the total volume of soybean imports for 2024 was projected to reach 105 million tons. Of this, American soybeans accounted for approximately 21 percent, a decrease of 5.7 percentage points year-on-year, while Brazilian soybeans made up about 71 percent, reflecting a 6.7 percentage points increase, and imports from Argentina were expected to double to 4.1 million tons compared to 2023.