Hong Kong ( CNN ) -- Baby formula , pigs , soybeans , oil and iron ore -- a seemingly disparate grouping -- have one thing in common . These commodities are all in high demand from an insatiable and growing China . Personal choice drives some of this demand . Chinese national interest fuels demand for others . For example , since 2008 , when hundreds of thousands of babies fell ill from tainted milk formula , Chinese mainlanders began to travel the world looking for milk powder sources perceived as more trustworthy . A growing middle class , with the money to travel , are China 's new global consumers looking for quality beyond borders . At the same time , because of China 's lack of certain key resources needed to feed its people and fuel its economy -- the second largest in the world -- Beijing has moved to secure oil , iron ore and crops halfway around the world . Regardless , whether by choice or by force , China and its citizens are looking to new markets and buying what they need . It is a sign of things to come , say analysts . Soybeans : Stuff of oil , tofu and animal feed . `` On a per capita basis , China has half the arable land and a third to a quarter of the water than the global average , '' says Merritt Cluff of the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome . `` As they 've gone through phenomenal growth , their food security has diminished marvelously . The question is who is going to feed China . '' China is the world 's largest importer of soybeans . The grain is one of the key starting links in the country 's food chain , used to make cooking oil , tofu products and in feed for the burgeoning pig industry . In 2012 , the world 's most populous country imported 59 % of the world 's soybean supply , according to FAO data , up from about 25 % in 2000 . `` If they had to produce their own soybeans , they would need to use 28 million hectares , '' says Cluff . That would mean nearly one-quarter -- about 23 % -- of China 's total arable land would be used for soybeans , based on China 's latest data from 2008 . Just 12 % of China 's total area was arable in 2011 , according to the World Bank , compared to 17.5 % in the U.S. and 34 % in Germany . `` They decided they could not do that ( use so much arable land for soybeans ) -- so they import , '' added Cluff . China relies on three main exporters for its soybean supply -- all in the Americas : Brazil , the U.S and Argentina which account for nearly half -- 46 % -- of the supply of global exports . Pork : '470 million pigs in China ' Besides soybeans , China is the world 's biggest consumer of pork products eating `` more pig products than the rest of the world combined , '' says Cluff . `` Existing estimates have China at 48 % of global consumption . '' While China is estimated to have raised 470 million pigs in 2012 , a number that increased about 1.5 % each year over the last decade according to FAO , that has not been enough to keep up with demand . China is a net importer of pork products -- from the U.S. , Europe and Canada in particular . `` There is lots of concern , '' added Cluff . `` As an analyst it 's been on almost everyone 's mind for the last 30 years . '' That concern extends from food to natural resources and China 's search for supplies around the world . Oil acquisitions and agreements . In July 2012 , Chinese oil producer , CNOOC , paid $ 15 billion to acquire Nexen , one of Canada 's largest independent oil companies which owns assets in the Gulf of Mexico , in the North Sea off the coast of Great Britain and off the coast of Nigeria . In November 2012 , China 's Sinopec and Saudi Arabia 's Aramaco signed an agreement that would send 1.4 million barrels a day to the Asian nation . But one China economics watcher says the world `` should n't be too worried '' and that demand for food -- and for natural resources from oil to iron ore -- may eventually see decreased demand . `` China is the world 's factory but those factories used to be in other cheaper countries . They got relocated to China because it 's cheaper to manufacture , '' says Professor Zhigang Tao , Associate Dean of Business and Economics at the University of Hong Kong . `` So on paper , you see increasing demand from China for natural resources , but this is displacing demand from other countries -- from South Korea and Japan to China . '' Production costs for foreign multinationals will rise in China , adds Tao , `` so a few years down the road we may ask the same questions about Vietnam and India . ''
More affluent Chinese able to travel beyond borders for quality food products . Beijing searching for natural resource supplies to protect national interests . Comment: