Food industry in China: Opportunities for foreign producers

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China's food industry is booming, and foreign producers are taking notice. Opportunities abound in this booming market for everything from processed foods to restaurant chains. If you want to break into the Chinese market, here's what you need to know.

What are the trends in the Chinese food industry? What types of products new zealand phone number list popular? How can foreign producers break into the market? This article answers these questions and more so you can make the most of this growing sector. Read on to find out more.

Contents [ hide ]

1 How big is the Chinese food industry?
2 China: Is it an agricultural nation?
3 The Chinese food industry: The success of imported food products
3.1 Increasing food security through imports
4 Major Trends in the Food Industry in China
4.1 Current and future demand for organic food
4.2 China's food industry and e-commerce go hand in hand
4.3 The rise of coffee culture
4.4 Customized food menus
5 China's new import law
6 China's food industry: to conclude
How big is the Chinese food industry?
As the world’s second-largest economy and most populous nation, it’s no surprise that China has a sizeable food market. In 2022 alone, China’s food industry was worth $1.3 trillion , with the largest bulk consumed being bread and cereal.

Like many sectors, the Chinese food industry is experiencing increasing digitalisation. In fact, China has seen online shopping grow from 11.5% in 2017 to a whopping 36.5% of total food consumption in 2022.


With this data, China has finally surpassed the United States as the world's largest food and beverage market. As the Chinese food market expands, domestic production and food imports are increasing in volume and value. However, despite the growth, China is not immune to a number of problems, such as fake food scandals.

China: Is it an agricultural nation?
China remains a predominantly agricultural nation despite the rise of Chinese food factories, Chinese food processing, and manufacturing. In fact, agriculture is one of the Chinese government’s most notable feats. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, they can feed one-fifth of the world’s population and produce one-quarter of the world’s grain on just one-tenth of the world’s agricultural land. This achievement has been made possible by the high priority the Chinese government places on its agricultural sector. In recent years, China has decided to shift its spending priorities from increasing domestic agricultural and food production to supporting rural income and greater environmental sustainability.

This policy shift is seen primarily to address the growing income disparity between urban and rural populations. For example, increased production in rural areas led to a surplus of agricultural labour which resulted in low farm incomes and hidden unemployment.

Today, China still has over 200 million agricultural households residing primarily in the nation's rural areas. These agricultural households grow labor-intensive crops such as: