CHS builds big-time soybean trade in a growing market with 1.3 billion hungry people and thousands of soaring construction cranes.

Like a taxi trip through its chaotic traffic, China’s economic growth has been a wild ride over the last two decades. Unprecedented private-sector transformation is reshaping Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other immense cities near China’s eastern and southern coasts, teeming with millions of people. Former cityscapes dominated by black bicycles, alleyway homes and Mao jackets have morphed into soaring skylines with gleaming glass-and-steel towers and construction cranes. Upscale shopping districts glitter with bars, restaurants and Western designer names. And multi-lane roadways clog with honking taxis and other cars, many bearing luxury brands

These outward signs of affluence mark a country emerging among top economic superpowers. Less obvious are changes in increasingly middle-class diets that add more protein from pork, poultry and fish, which require soy-based rations. Already, half the world’s pork is consumed in China. So China needs more soybeans to meet climbing soy meal and soy oil needs, says Brian Schouvieller, CHS vice president of international business, adding, “Consumption has the potential to explode.”