Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 2 - Title: Seeing the prospects of China's consumption upgrade, international agricultural giant Louis Dreyfus continues to increase its holdings

By reporter Pang Wuji of Xinhua News Agency

The diverse and highly potential consumer market in China is continuously releasing its 'magnetic force' to attract multinational corporations. Recently, the Louis Dreyfus Group of the Netherlands officially began construction of its new food technology industrial center in Dongjiaokou, Qingdao, Shandong Province. The industrial center is expected to be completed in 2027 and, upon production, is expected to achieve an annual output of 1.5 million tons of feed protein, 370,000 tons of refined oil, and 15,000 tons of lecithin.

This is a microcosm of Louis Dreyfus's continuous investment in China in recent years. As a global company in the food, feed, fiber, and ingredients industry, since establishing its global research and development center in Pudong, Shanghai in 2023, this global agricultural giant has successively launched new projects or expanded its investment in many places in China, including Guangzhou, Tianjin, Zhangjiagang, and Fuxin, Liaoning in the past two years.

Louis Dreyfus Global CEO Gao Qi (Michael Gelchie) recently said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency in Beijing that the stable economic growth, predictable policy environment, and the huge potential consumer market of China have given Louis Dreyfus the confidence to continue to increase its holdings in China.

Gao Qi said that China has a庞大的 consumer market and the largest middle-income group in the world. With the economic development of China and the improvement of residents' living standards, the per capita meat consumption of Chinese consumers has fluctuated from 26.2 kilograms in 2015 to 38.1 kilograms in 2024. This trend has also driven the continuous growth of the animal feed market in China.

Louis Dreyfus North Asia CEO Chen Jiayuan revealed that last year, Louis Dreyfus invested in and built the first special feed production line in Tianjin, producing fermented soybean meal products that can improve animal health levels and growth rates. The recently constructed Qingdao Dongjiaokou Food Science and Technology Industrial Park has also added feed protein capacity. With the continuous improvement of Chinese consumers' health and environmental awareness, Louis Dreyfus has started to provide high-quality, traceable plant-based ingredient products. In 2023, a global plant-based ingredient business platform was also established specifically for the Chinese market, providing a rich selection of products. The global research and development center of Louis Dreyfus in Shanghai focuses on the research and development of feed protein, plant-based ingredients, edible oils, juices, coffee, and other products.

The continuously improving business environment in China is also an important reason why multinational corporations continue to increase their holdings in China, using practical actions to cast 'confidence votes' for the Chinese economy.

Chen Jiayuan pointed out that Louis Dreyfus has been operating in China for over 50 years, witnessing China's increasing openness and transparency to foreign investors. In the agricultural sector, China is also continuously relaxing entry requirements and opening up channels for the import of diversified agricultural products. Benefiting from the bilateral free trade agreements signed between China and more and more countries and regions, 'In the past few years, we have continuously brought new agricultural products to China, such as soybeans from South Africa, sorghum from Argentina, and corn from Brazil.'

He observed a significant improvement in the administrative efficiency of the Chinese government. Chen Jiayuan said, 'It only took three months from the signing of the investment agreement to the final land acquisition and the start of construction for the Qingdao Dongjiaokou project.' 'There were many difficulties that needed to be coordinated and resolved, and the local government provided us with tremendous help.'

The continued optimism about the prospects of the Chinese economy is the most important source of long-term confidence for multinational corporations. Gao Qi said, under the complex and changing international situation today, 'What impressed me most is China's strong economic resilience and its active promotion of a high-quality development model driven by innovation.'

He believes that China has established an ecosystem that drives innovation, creating very good opportunities for the transformation and upgrading of the agricultural and food supply chain. Currently, the revenue scale of the Chinese market accounts for about a quarter of the company's global revenue. 'The Chinese market plays an extremely important role in our growth strategy, and we are also committed to deepening our efforts here in the long term.'