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The companies have set up a working team to decide details of the cooperation, Yoshihisa Aoki, Itochu's managing executive officer said Monday at a media briefing. Joint purchases of grains, dairy products, meat and other products would be discussed, he said.
Corn, wheat and soybean prices have risen to records this year, driven by increased demand for food and biofuels and lifting costs for importers.
Resource-poor Japan is the world's biggest net food importer, buying more than 60 percent of its food requirements from overseas. It is a mature market with an aging population, prompting trading companies to look to fast-growing countries like China for new business opportunities.
"The two companies will jointly purchase food and supplie, mainly for the Chinese market," Aoki said. Food supplies in China were expected to become "tighter" in the future, he said.
Demand in China is forecast to increase as incomes rise.
Discussions also covered expanding sales of Japanese rice and other products, as well as support for Japanese food makers operating in China, said Yuko Takeuchi, an Itochu spokeswoman.
"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 and higher fuel and freight costs have made it difficult for food importers to find stable supplies at reasonable prices.
The two companies were not considering a capital tie-up at this point, Takeuchi said.
She said discussions had not covered cooperation in storage and other logistics.
"We haven't specifically discussed that yet," Takeuchi said.
Itochu fell ¥59, or 5.8 percent, to close at ¥966 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
