--FILE--View of the headquarters of COFCO (China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation) in Beijing, China, 10 February 2018. Chinese food giant COFCO International Ltd is expanding its operations in Brazil in order to increase its purchases of Brazilian soybeans, amid rising trade tension between China and the US, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday (10 May 2018). COFCO has added about 12 people to its Brazilian team in charge of buying, storing and selling crops in a number of states, according to the Bloomberg report, which cited an unidentified source. China is the world's largest importer of soybeans. In 2017, China purchased 53.8 million tons of Brazilian soybeans, accounting for 79 percent of Brazil's total exports, according to data from the Brazilian Trade Ministry.
