China imported 30.82 million tons of soybeans in the first 10 months of this year, a growth of 25.6 percent on the same period last year, the General Administration of Customs said on Sunday.

The arrivals were valued at US$18.73 billion, up 120 percent. The dramatic increase is due to higher soybean prices. The imports were priced at US$607.70 per ton, up 75.1 percent.

Of the total imported soybeans, 56.6 percent, or 17.45 million tons, were bought by foreign-funded companies. That is up 10.4 percent.

Brazil, the United States and Argentina were the top three sources of China's soybean imports.

Between January and October, China bought 11.14 million tons of soybeans from Brazil, up 18 percent, 10.61 million tons from the United States, up 18 percent, and 8.61 million tons from Argentina, up 46.6 percent. The three accounted for 98.5 percent of China's total soybean imports.

(China Daily December 29, 2008)