Trade opening and food security in China: The contribution of Brazilian exports of animal protein

Abstract

China has become the country with the highest consumption of animal protein in the world. The average supply of animal protein was 27.8 g/per capita/day in 2001 and 39.6 g/per capita/day in 2018, an increase of approximately 12 g/per capita/day. The objective was to analyse and demonstrate how the Brazilian exports may have contributed to the improvement of food security in China, as a result of China´s accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001. From this perspective, we evaluated the role of Brazilian exports (animal proteins) in the  increase of developmental indicators (mainly food security, i.e., average supply of animal protein in China). In pursuit of such goals, econometric correlation and regression models were tested to explore relationship between Brazilian exports and food security in China. Correlation estimates were performed using degrees of trade openness and average adequacy of dietary energy supply with the prevalence of malnutrition. The findings of this paper support that the increase in the supply of animal protein, from Brazil, was closely related to the Chinese market openness, which, in turn, contributed to the increase of food security in China. Additionally, trade liberalization in the Asian economy may have worked to consolidate supply chains in Brazil. Future research should explore the impacts of other trade openings and bilateral agreements on the economy and food security worldwide. One challenge is to disentangle the contribution on food security that comes from the internal production and the exports from different supplier countries.