The Middle Corridor and Turkey detail in China's food security strategy

Increasing its weight in global food trade, China is placing food supply at the center of its economic security due to limited agricultural land and international trade tensions. The Beijing administration is focusing on railway and infrastructure investments along the Middle Corridor, which includes Turkey, to diversify import sources for products it is dependent on and to secure its logistics routes.

China, which houses approximately 17 percent of the world's population, prioritizes food security because it possesses only 8 percent of global arable agricultural land. The country aims for self-sufficiency in staple products like rice, while diversifying its supply chain for products it is dependent on, such as soybeans. Following trade wars with the US, Brazil has become the main supplier for its annual soybean imports, which exceed 100 million tons.

Beijing is conducting global logistics investments to create alternative routes to the Strait of Malacca for food shipments. In this context, in addition to railway projects extending from Brazil to Peru, focus is being placed on the Middle Corridor, which covers Turkey and Kazakhstan, as an alternative to the northern lines passing through Russia. However, the extent to which these logistics investments by China will affect the volume of agricultural products transported through Turkey has not yet been clarified.