Three-Margin Analysis of China's Animal-Derived Food Import

Abstract

Aggregate import of China's animal-derived food increased remarkably and has been on a continuous upward trend. This paper uses import data at the Harmonized System (HS) six-digit level from 2002 to 2018 to explore the growth driver of China's animal derived food imports. It is found that: (1) China's animal-derived food import growth is mainly driven by rapid quantity growth, which contributes up to 70.12%; (2) Although China's animal-derived food import market is highly concentrated, it exhibits a tendency toward diversification; (3) There is an enormous difference between developed and developing countries in terms of exporting at the bilateral level, at which the degree of product variety differs with the particular type of trading partners, although variety generally increases.