Storyline: US launches its largest-ever food, agriculture pavilion at 8th CIIE [Voice_over] This highly anticipated event is the opening of the American Food and Agriculture Pavilion at the 8th China International Import Expo. Organized by the US Department of Agriculture and AmCham Shanghai for the third time, the pavilion is by far the largest for the group. [Sound_bite] Jeffrey Lehman, Chair of AmCham Shanghai: "We are so excited that we're spanning now 350 square meters of space here. We have 19 exhibitors. Our pavilion is almost 50% larger than it was even last year. And the level of energy that you have here is just tremendous. Everywhere you look, you see people who are coming up, who are learning about American agricultural products, and the CIIE now, for eight years, has been creating a forum that can bring potential buyers and potential sellers together. And that’s wonderful." [Voice_over] Agriculture serves as a cornerstone of China's trade relations with the United States. But due to trade tensions between the two countries, agriculture—especially soybean production—has taken a heavy hit. When I interviewed Jim Sutter, the CEO of US Soybean Export Council, earlier this year, he already expressed concern. Things just got worse afterwards. [Sound_bite] Jim Sutter, CEO, US Soybean Export Council: "But this year it was very bad because there was no prospect of sales to China and normally our big shipping time is September, October, November, December and nothing was happening." [Voice_over] But with multiple rounds of negotiations and the two presidents meeting during APEC in Busan, things are shifting towards a more positive direction. And that has made US farmers, including the Soybean Export Council, optimistic about the future. [Sound_bite] Jim Sutter, CEO, US Soybean Export Council: "I think US agriculture trade can be an example for all of the other parts of the relationship to demonstrate how we can work together. I think there will be some purchase agreements signed at the CIIE. That's a hallmark of what happens here at the CIE. We at the moment do not have any scheduled, but I am hearing a lot of talk from our exporters that business is happening. I am very confident after listening to both of our presidents talk that this trade is going to pick up and going to resume and we will see US soybeans going to China in the very near future." [Voice_over] On October 30th, China announced that it had reached an agreement with the US to expand agricultural trade. Although details have not yet been released, the news has brought optimism to the agricultural representatives at the expo. Many believe that businesses ties are strengthening and a win-win outcome is what they hope to achieve. [Restrictions: No access Chinese mainland]