BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) - China's agricultural products trade reported a deficit of 71.87 billion US dollars in 2019, up 26.5 percent year on year, official statistics showed.

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Imports increased by 10 percent year on year to 150.97 billion US dollars while exports went down 1.7 percent to 79.1 billion US dollars, statistics released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs showed.

Total farm produce trade volume rose 5.7 percent year on year to 230.07 billion US dollars in 2019.

China imported 17.92 million tonnes of grain last year, while exports stood at 3.24 million tonnes.

Total imports of corn grew 36 percent to 4.79 million tonnes in 2019 while imports of pork surged 67.2 percent year on year to 1.99 million tonnes.