But China's reading of the market, together with its commercial and political needs, will prevail, Asian and Australian traders say.
Chinese officials themselves leave little doubt.
"The government is trying to maintain stable grains output to have better control over imports after WTO," Bu Yibao, analyst at China's State Cereals Information Centre, said.
Asian farm good exporters see a second barb in the tail of China's WTO entry, that stiff competition between exporters for the China market will trigger a painful efficiency drive in much of the Asian farm sector.
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