Uzbekistan`s export of mung bean to China soars to 36.5%

Uzbekistan has tripled the supply of mung bean to China, the country`s embassy in China reported. Over the past two years, the share of Uzbek manufacturers in the Chinese market has increased from 26% to 36.5%.

China is a huge market with a growing middle class of more than 400mn people. It ranks first in the world in terms of food retail sales. China’s consumer market is set to expand by about 12% every year to reach a value of $8.4 trillion by 2022, according to Oxford Economics.

Soy, beans, lentils, chickpeas, peas and peanuts are considered as the most popular and common legumes on the Chinese market. In particular, mung bean is included in the diet of every Chinese. Hot dishes and salads, flour, funchosa, confectionery, yoghurts, drinks with milk, tea and various additives are prepared from mung beans.

The useful properties of its are extremely extensive. It contains almost all the trace elements and vitamins necessary for the normal functioning of human organs. Mung bean is rich in vitamins C, B (B1, B2, B4, B5, B6, B9), E, K, PP, contains calcium, phosphorus, iron, magnesium, sodium, fluorine, zinc, manganese, selenium.

Due to the lack of its own mung bean, China imports it from other countries. The main suppliers are Myanmar, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Australia and Thailand. The volume of annual consumption of mung beans is growing from year to year: if in 2018 it amounted to 89,000 tons, then in 2019 it reached 113,000. Last year this figure soared to 205,000 tons.

Uzbekistan inked dozens of bilateral agreements in the trade and economic sphere during the visit of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to China in 2018. Among them is the Protocol on phytosanitary requirements for the export of mung beans from Uzbekistan to China.