BEIJING, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- The expansion of soybean meal substitute imports will be an effective supplement to China's animal feed supply, experts observed.

China's state-owned grains trader COFCO has made inquiries on soybean meal substitute imports on the international market to fill in the gap left by the reduction in U.S. soybean imports.

Chen Gang, vice president of the China National Vegetable Oil Association, said that soybean meal is not the only source of protein in animal feed as it can be obtained from canola, peanut, sunflower seed, and cottonseed meals.

China is taking action to offset the decrease in U.S. soybean imports, said Li Guoxiang, a researcher at the Rural Development Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

More substitutes for soybean meal will reduce the demand for soybeans. Meanwhile, as China's supply-side structural reform advances, it will increase its supply of soybeans and become less dependent on imports, said Li.