SPATIAL VARIATION OF RICE TRADE BETWEEN CHINA AND ASEAN COUNTRIES OF 2002 - 2016

Rice is the staple food for both China and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The trade between China and ASEAN countries has increased tremendously in last decade. The paper is to describe the influence of Chinese market on rice production of ASEAN countries by describing the spatial variation of rice trade between China and target countries. The data of rice area and trade in 2002 - 2016 was from United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Statistics Database (FAOSTAT) and analyzed by the Geographical Information System of natural breaks method. Since the Belt and Road Initiative was released in 2013, rice trade between China and ASEAN countries was increased substantially. However, the pattern of change varied across rice exporting countries in ASEAN. Rice area, yield and rice production were all increased in Vietnam because the volume and value of rice trade between Vietnam and China was increased sharply. Vietnam has surpassed Thailand to become the biggest rice exporter to China. In contrast, rice production in Thailand was decreased due to the decreasing rice area and stable rice yield. The rice trade between China and Thailand was not as stable as that in Vietnam. Chinese market plays important role for all rice exporting countries in ASEAN, further study is needed to figure out the causal effect and quantify the influence and change of Chinese market and policy on these areas.