COFCO held soybean procurement signing ceremony, association official tells US-China forum

By Casey Hall

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -China’s state-owned COFCO held a soybean procurement signing ceremony on Thursday morning, the head of a Chinese agriculture business association told a U.S.-China forum.

Cao Derong, the president of the China Chamber of Commerce for the Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-Products, made the comment at the U.S.-China Agricultural Trade Cooperation Forum, which is taking place in Shanghai as part of the China International Import Expo.

He did not give provide details about the signing ceremony, such as how much was purchased or the identity or nationality of the seller.

“China-U.S. bilateral trade has gone through many twists and turns and is now able to proceed normally again,” he said, adding there was “light at the end of the tunnel.”

COFCO did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The White House said after a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump in South Korea that China would purchase at least 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans in the last two months of 2025 and at least 25 million tons in each of the next three years.

China has not confirmed those figures and traders are watching closely for signs of large-scale purchases.

On Wednesday, China said it will suspend retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports, including duties on farm goods but that imports of U.S. soybeans will still face a 13% tariff.

(Reporting by Casey Hall; Writing by Brenda Goh; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Christopher Cushing)