China’s Rice Imports by Country

Considering the more than 1.4 billion mouths to feed in China, it should come as no surprise that the People’s Republic was the world’s biggest importer of rice in 2022 ahead of the United States of America, Philippines, Ivory Coast, Iraq and Japan.

Total rice imports by country cost China a total US$2.62 billion via international purchases from 13 rice-supplying trade partners during 2022.

That dollar amount reflects China’s 64% purchasing increase from $1.6 billion during 2018, and a 19.9% acceleration from $2.2 billion in 2021.

Most of China’s rice imports originate from fellow Asian countries. Notable exceptions among these suppliers are relatively smaller supplies from Italy, United States of America, France and Germany.

Top Providers of Chinese Imported Rice

Below are the countries that supplied 100% of the rice imported by China during 2022.

1. India: US$777 million (29.6% of China’s total rice imports)
2. Pakistan: $455.4 million (17.4%)
3. Vietnam: $437.2 million (16.7%)
4. Thailand: $420 million (16%)
5. Myanmar: $314.4 million (12%)
6. Cambodia: $181 million (6.9%)
7. Laos: $25.6 million (1%)
8. Taiwan: $9.5 million (0.4%)
9. Japan: $2.4 million (0.1%)
10. Italy: $328,000 (0.01%)
11. United States of America: $17,000 (0.001%)
12. France: $5,000 (0.0002%)
13. Germany: $2,000 (0.0001%)

Three of mainland China’s leading rice suppliers (India, Pakistan and Vietnam), collected almost two-thirds (63.7%) of overall Chinese spending on imported rice for 2022.

The top 5 rice providers supplied 91.7% of Chinese imports of the staple food grain.

Those percentages also illustrate the high concentration for China’s cohort of rice suppliers.

Fastest-Growing Suppliers of China’s Rice Imports Versus Decliners

Chinese purchases of rice from one of its smaller suppliers, the United States of America, accelerated by 54.5% compared to 2021, pulling up the overall average 19.9% gain which encompasses statistics for all of China’s rice suppliers.

1. Italy: Up 260.4% since 2021)
2. India: Up 108.6%
3. Laos: Up 57.6%
4. United States of America: Up 54.5%
5. Thailand: Up 23.5%
6. Pakistan: Up 14.1%
7. Myanmar: Up 5.6%
8. Japan: Up 5.2%
9. France: None in 2021
10. Germany: None in 2021
11. Cambodia: Down -5.9%
12. Vietnam: Down -18.4%
13. Taiwan: Down -70%

 

As was the case one year earlier, Italy and India recorded the strongest expansions in their annual rice sales to the People’s Republic from 2021 to 2022.

In contrast, the severest year-over-year reductions were experienced by rice suppliers in politically sensitive Taiwan, Vietnam and Cambodia.

See also Rice Exports by Country, Rice Imports by Country, China’s Top 10 Exports and China’s Top Trading Partners

Research Sources
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on June 15, 2023

International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 15, 2023

Wikipedia, Rice. Accessed on June 15, 2023