Soybeans are harvested in Heilongjiang province. [Photo/Xinhua]

China has maintained good trade relations with major soybean exporting countries, and soybean buyers in China make procurement decisions independently, an official from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on Friday. 

Chen Bangxun, director of the ministry's department of development and planning, made the statement in response to media reports saying that US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack implied China could be favoring Brazil's soybeans and corn, partly in retaliation against recent restrictions on foreign ownership of farmland in the US.

As the world's largest importer of soybeans, China has kept positive trading relations with key soybean exporters, Chen said during a news conference.

"There are both domestic and foreign soybean buyers in China, and these enterprises have made entirely independent decisions over their sources of procurement," he said. "Their decisions largely depend on supply and demand relationships and market prices."