China
China is officially known as the People’s Republic of China. China is the world’s third-biggest country by territory, and it has the largest population. It’s home to one of the oldest civilizations on earth with a unique and sophisticated culture. China has a population of over 1.4 billion. The population density in China is 153 per kilometer square (396 per square mile) with a median of 38.4 years. About 60.8% of the population lives in urban areas. Chinese is often believed to be the world’s most spoken and most difficult-to-learn first language. Mandarin is the official Chinese language and is taught in schools all over China. But there are many dialects and even other Chinese languages. Some regions speak a dialect of Mandarin; some regions have their distinct languages. Cantonese, for example, is spoken in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong, and Macau. People around Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu speak Wu. These languages can be very different from Mandarin.
China was the world’s fastest-growing economy for over 30 years (around 10% per year for three decades). It is now the world’s second-largest economy, its 2020 GDP being 15.8 trillion USD. China is known as ‘the factory of the world”. China has more than 660 cities. About 90 of them have a population of over 1 million people. There are 18 cities with a population of over 10 million. The most populous city is Shanghai having a population of over 24 million.
China is the largest cotton spinner in the world and the biggest importer of Raw Cotton. Although, 24 Chinese provinces grow Cotton. the annual production of rice accounts for almost half of the country’s total output. China is responsible for about 30% of global rice production. However, China is also the world’s biggest importer of Rice with a Value of $1.72 billion annually. China is also the biggest importer of Iron ore by some Margin. Imports total around $99 billion annually, which is over 60% of total global Iron ore imports.

India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east.

Second, only China, India has a lot of people. To be precise, the population of India accounts for 1/6th of the population worldwide. Yet, India only occupies approximately 2.4% of the world’s land area. India is also the largest democracy and has the sixth-largest economy in the world. India currently has the second-highest population in the world, with China having the highest. The country is estimated to have a population of around 1.3 billion people, with the highest populated cities being Delhi and Mumbai; each with a population of over 10 million. The Constitution of India now recognizes 23 languages. English plus 22 Indian languages: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Meitei, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.

The economy of India is a middle-income developing market economy. It is the world’s sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and the third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), on a per capita income basis, India ranked 145th by GDP (nominal) and 122nd by GDP (PPP). India’s main imports are mineral fuels, oils, waxes, and bituminous substances (27 percent of total imports); pearls, precious and semi-precious stones and jewelry (14 percent); electrical machinery and equipment (10 percent); nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances (8 percent); and organic chemicals (4 percent). Imports to India rose 26.6%year-on-year to $58.26 billion in April of 2022, preliminary estimates showed. (Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India)
Vegetable oils constitute more than half the import of agriculture products in India

About 54% or more than half of the agri-imports by India are of vegetable oils. India’s vegetable oil imports in 2020-21, up to February 2021, are worth Rs. 74,286 crores. Other major agri-imports are fresh fruits, pulses, spices, and cashew. Together, the five products account for 80% of India’s agri-imports. In the case of other commodities, there is a growth in India’s sugar imports in 2020-21 by 88%. Import of other oil seeds grew by 72%, marine products by 25%, pulses by 19%, and fresh fruits by 11%. However, this increase was neutralized by the drop in imports of raw cotton (72%), Non-Basmati rice (71%), other cereals (69%), spices (24%), oil meals (26%), alcoholic beverages (19%), miscellaneous processed items (18%), and cashew (17%).

Malaysia is a Southeast Asian country occupying parts of the Malay Peninsula and the island of Borneo. Malaysia’s population is a mix of three major ethnic groups, each with its own heritage, culture and tradition. 60% of the population are Bumiputera, a term that describes the traditional inhabitants of the country and includes Malays, Orang Asli and other indigenous peoples. Minorities are Chinese, about 20%, and Indians (6%). Malaysia has more than 130 living languages; the official language is Bahasa Malaysia (Melayu).

The capital, Kuala Lumpur, is home to colonial buildings, busy shopping districts such as Bukit Bintang and skyscrapers such as the iconic, 451m-tall Petronas Twin Towers. Malaysia’s top 10 imports accounted for 71% of the overall value of its product purchases from other countries. The fastest grower among Malaysia’s imported product categories was gems and precious metals via a 71.8% increase from 2020 to 2021. That increase was propelled by higher Malaysian payments for imported gold, jewelry, silver and diamonds. In second place was the rubber and items made from rubber category, trailed by Malaysia’s imports of iron or steel, miscellaneous chemical goods and vehicles.

Vietnam officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is a country in Southeast Asia Located at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, it covers 311,699 square kilometres. With a population of over 96 million, it is the world’s fifteenth-most populous country. As the world’s largest exporter of cashew nuts, Vietnam produces more than 55% of the global supply and makes well over two billion dollars a year from the industry. Cashew plants were brought to Vietnam during the 19th century and were originally grown in gardens to provide shade. In 1990, the Vietnamese government spotted the potential of cashew nut production and invested heavily in the industry.

Japan is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan
The economy of Japan is a highly developed free-market economy. It is the third-largest in the world by nominal GDP and the fourth-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). It is the world’s second-largest developed economy. Japan is a member of both the G7 and G20. According to the World Bank, the country’s per capita GDP (PPP) was at $40,193 (2020). Due to a volatile currency exchange rate, Japan’s GDP as measured in dollars fluctuates sharply. Accounting for these fluctuations through the use of the Atlas method, Japan is estimated to have a GDP per capita of around $39,048. The Japanese economy is forecast by the Quarterly Tankan survey of business sentiment conducted by the Bank of Japan.
In recent years, Japan has adopted program incentives to increase the domestic production of soybeans. As a result of these increased incentives, higher domestic production is expected to reduce the demand for imported beans for food use. However, the demand for soybeans for crushing should remain strong. With a 63 percent market share, the United States is the largest soybean supplier to Japan with exports totaling $976 million in 2017. Brazil, Japan’s second-largest soybean supplier, holds a 14 percent market share.

Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. Indonesia is predicted to be the 4th largest economy in the world by 2045. Joko Widodo has stated that his cabinet’s calculations showed that by 2045, Indonesia will have a population of 309 million people. By Widodo’s estimate, there would be economic growth of 5−6% & GDP of US$9.1 trillion. Indonesia’s income per capita is expected to reach US$29,000. . Indonesia’s agricultural imports reached over $19 billion in 2020. Wheat, soybeans, rice, beef, fresh fruits, dairy, and various feed ingredients were leading import categories. According to Trade Data Monitor, in 2020, Indonesian imported nearly 2.9 million metric tons of soybeans. Soybean consumption in Indonesia is predominantly for human food, with most imported soybeans going to tempeh and tofu production. Indonesia’s livestock feed industry relies on imported soybean meal and corn. In 2020, Indonesia imported over 4.9 million metric tons of soybean meal. Although Indonesia produces a diverse range of tropical fruits, demand for imported fresh fruits continues to increase. In 2020 Indonesia imported $1.2 billion of fresh fruits including pears, apples, grapes, and oranges/ mandarins, which together accounted for 90 percent of total fresh fruit import volume. Other popular imported fruits include dates, raisins, blueberries, and cherries.

The Philippines officially the Republic of the Philippines is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It is considered to be an emerging market and a newly industrialized country, which has an economy transitioning from being based on agriculture to being based more on services and manufacturing. The Philippines is a founding member of the United Nations, World Trade Organization, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, and the East Asia Summit.

Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, home of the world’s first night zoo, a city of manmade waterfalls, is a sovereign island city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude (137 kilometers or 85 miles) north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bordering the Strait of Malacca to the west, the Riau Islands (Indonesia) to the south, and the South China Sea to the east. It has the third greatest population density in the world. With a multicultural population and recognizing the need to respect cultural identities, Singapore has four official languages; English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil. English is the lingua franca. Singapore’s largest industry by far is the manufacturing sector, which contributes 20%-25% of the country’s annual GDP. An estimated 6% of Singaporeans are Tamil, heralding from Southern India, and about 15% are Malay Muslims. That leaves 4% of Singaporeans with mixed or other heritage.
Key industry clusters in Singapore’s manufacturing include electronics, chemicals, biomedical sciences, logistics, and transport engineering. In the third quarter of 2017, the manufacturing sector grew by 35%, with clusters like electronics and precision engineering benefiting from high demand.

Imports in Singapore increased to 54637.32 Million SGD in March from 50294.81 Million SGD in February of 2022. (Statistics Singapore). The biggest import product, with a 43 percent share, is machinery and equipment (with electronics accounting for 60 percent). The country also imports crude oil (32 percent), miscellaneous manufacturing (7 percent), and chemical products (7 percent). On top of Singapore’s import list is petroleum which represents 35% of its total imports, followed by computer and computer spare parts which represent 10%. Singapore imports petroleum gas in smaller amounts. Singapore companies also import broadcasting equipment and office machinery.

Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast, and the Philippines to the south. The territories controlled by the ROC consist of 168 islands, with a combined area of 36,193 square kilometers (13,974 sq mi). The main island of Taiwan, formerly known as Formosa, has an area of 35,808 square kilometers (13,826 sq mi), with mountain ranges dominating the eastern two-thirds and plains in the western third, where its highly urbanized population is concentrated. The capital, Taipei, forms along with New Taipei City and Keelung the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Other major cities include Kaohsiung, Taichung, Tainan, and Taoyuan. With 23.45 million inhabitants, Taiwan is among the most densely populated countries in the world.