(Yicai) Nov. 7 -- "The US Grains and BioProducts Council wants to convey a clear message that regardless of how trade relations between China and the United States evolve, we are not leaving the Chinese market," the chairman of the US trade association said in an interview with Yicai during the ongoing China International Import Expo in Shanghai.

This is Mark Wilson's first time attending the CIIE. His main purpose for coming is to engage with Chinese buyers. "We have been here for 43 years, and we plan to stay. We will keep working to build more trade partnerships and friendships. As long as China needs our products, we can deliver anytime."

A shipment of US sorghum is already on its way to China, Wilson said. “US farmers have stockpiled at least two years’ worth of sorghum, and we urgently need to find buyers. Getting orders from Chinese buyers is a good thing,” he added.

Rising demand for high-protein livestock feed in China can also provide a new market for distillers dried grains with solubles, which is a key byproduct of US ethanol production, Wilson said.

Agricultural cooperation is an important part of China-US economic and trade relations, Chen Chao, director-general of the department of Americas and Oceania affairs at China's Ministry of Commerce, said at the China-US Agricultural Trade Cooperation Forum yesterday. Cooperation brings tangible benefits to the people of both countries, and there is huge potential for further collaboration.

China is the biggest buyer of US sorghum. The country imported 8.6 million metric tons of sorghum in 2024, of which 5.6 million metric tons came from the US, accounting for 65.6 percent of total imports, according to Chinese customs data.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor