Tokyo, Aug 4 - Japanese trading house Itochu Corp signed a tie-up with COFCO, China's largest agricultural trading and processing company, to buy grain and other food around the world.
Their discussions also covered expanding sales of Japanese rice and other products, and support for Japanese food makers to operate in China, Itochu spokeswoman Yuko Takeuchi said.
"Globally, it is getting harder to procure food," she said. "We hope to improve our buying power through the alliance."
Rapidly increasing wealth in China has opened the way for sales of high quality farm produce from Japan, as tastes in the world's most populous nation turn to meat, dairy products and imported food.
At the same time, a rally in international grain prices, such as those for corn and soybeans, and higher fuel and freight costs have made it difficult for food importers to find stable supplies at reasonable prices.
The two are not considering a capital tie-up at this point, Takeuchi said, adding the discussions had also not covered cooperation in storage and other logistics, an area Japanese trading houses have strength in.
"We haven't specifically discussed that yet," Takeuchi said.
Resource-poor Japan is the world's biggest net food importer but it is a mature market with an ageing population -- prompting trading companies to look to fast-growing countries such as China for new business opportunities.
Itochu shares dropped 4.6 percent to 978 yen on Monday, compared with a 1 percent fall in the benchmark Nikkei average.