(Yicai Global) Nov. 6 -- Archer Daniels Midland, a leading US agricultural commodities and products company, will pen deals worth billions of dollars with Chinese firms at the China International Import Expo, boosting China’s imports of farm produce, The Paper reported today.

ADM’s trade with China has been steadily growing as consumer demand for high-quality produce and a high protein diet has soared in recent years, the report cited Si Yao, ADM’s China general manager of agricultural trade and oilseeds, as saying. “We’ll enhance sustained global supply of high-quality agricultural products to China,” Si added.

The Chicago-based company’s China trade volume makes up nearly 15 percent of its global total. This year marks its first participation in the trade expo, according to the firm’s Asia-Pacific President Liu Yuxiang. ADM plans to “hike investment in China because we are confident in and determined to develop in the country,” Liu said.

ADM will build an agricultural product trading center in the Chinese port city of Tianjin for conduct cross-border trade, entrepot trade, and structured trade finance, taking advantage of the Tianjin Pilot Free Trade Zone, it said on Nov. 4, predicting the hub do billions of yuan in trade a year.

The company also aims to develop its new nutrition and health business in China, expanding its Shanghai research and development center’s scope as well as investing and working with other firms in key food materials, Liu said. ADM is eyeing mergers and acquisitions in the Asia-Pacific region and worldwide, he added.

Its APAC business makes up about 10 percent of its total and there is a lot of room for growth, Liu said. China offers great opportunities given its demand for food nutrition, he added, saying ADM is working on plans for the next five years, including how to double its business in Asia-Pacific.

Editor: Tom Litting