LDC in China
China is a key market for LDC, both in the merchandizing role that made our company a global force, and in our new strategy to move downstream in the value chain, closer to end consumers
Regional Highlights:
About China
Over 40 years of reform and opening up have driven remarkable and rapid economic growth and social development in China.
As the world’s second largest economy, China plays a crucial role as an engine of global economic growth, including for a host of developing countries.
China has also made great progress in improving its people’s living standards and livelihoods, which in turn has driven growing demand for agricultural products as Chinese consumers pursue a more diverse range of dietary choices and are increasingly concerned about food safety and quality.
While bulk commodities such as soybeans and cotton remain predominant in China’s agricultural imports, urbanization, changing consumer preferences and increased purchasing power have broadened the scope of these imports.
As a result, demand for consumer products like meat and coffee is growing rapidly in the Chinese market. As health consciousness deepens, consumers increasingly seek delicious, nutritious and diverse food and beverage options. Against this backdrop, healthy alternatives like plant-based proteins and gluten-free diets are gaining popularity.
Our Operations
Given China’s importance in global commodity flows, our operations in the country represent a large proportion of LDC’s global activities. China is currently the world’s largest importer of soybeans, and we are involved in a significant proportion of its soybean import flows.
China is also a destination for many other agricultural commodities that LDC merchandizes: cotton, raw and white sugar, wheat, corn, sorghum, barley, dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS), rapeseed, vegetable oils (soy, rapeseed, canola, palm), green coffee, orange juice, grapefruit juice, orange oil and other products.
Combining our international origination network with our capabilities in China, we offer our customers tailored supply chain and risk management solutions to secure supply and ensure product quality.
We are active in all domestic commodity exchanges in China, and are members of the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) and the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE).
Our Strategy
Our Assets
In addition to our main offices in China, our industrial footprint continues to grow as we invest in facilities to deliver products that meet the growing needs of our customers.
We operate:
- Several oilseeds crushing plants, located in Tianjin, North China, the Yangtze River area in East China, and the Pearl Delta Region in South China. These serve the needs of feed milling customers and vegetable oil consumers.
- A joint venture, Tianjin Rongchuan Feed Co. Ltd, with HAID Group, to provide high-end aqua feed product to aquaculture industry in North China.
- Two joint venture grains warehouses in Jinzhou, Liaoning.
- A joint venture, Fuling Food Industrial Park, in Nansha, Guangzhou.
- A global R&D center in Pudong, Shanghai, dedicated to exploring the nutritional and health benefits of food and feed products at the molecular level. It focuses on developing specialty feed proteins, plant-based ingredients, edible oils, juices and coffee to address rapidly evolving market demands.
- A new Food Technology Park in Dongjiakou, Qingdao, which began construction in 2025 and is scheduled to commence operations in 2027.
- Specialty feed lecithin and specialty feed protein production lines in Tianjin, aimed at supplying high-quality specialty feed ingredients to China’s livestock and poultry industries while enhancing animal health and farming efficiency.