BEIJING - China is expected to receive its first imports of corn from Argentina, the world's second-largest exporter of the grain, next year, a senior Argentina agricultural official said on Thursday.

Shipments would likely start in April under a bilateral agreement that is almost ready to be signed, Lorenzo Basso, vice-minister of agriculture, livestock and fisheries, said.

The Latin American nation expects China to issue a so-called phytosanitary certificate, or a quarantine permit for plant health, in about a month, Basso said.

As the second-biggest corn consumer, China was formerly self-sufficient in the grain, but in recent years, it turned to imports to meet rising domestic demand.

China needs "sufficient maize stockpiles" to meet demand, Basso said. China has shown a willingness to import Argentine corn and agreed to "speed up" negotiations, he said in a separate interview ahead of a news conference.

Corn now being planted is due to be harvested in March, so shipments to China wouldn't begin until the end of the harvest season, despite current stockpiles of 6 million tons, Basso said.

He also estimated that his country's total corn harvest would reach 25 million tons by March, with 15 million tons available for export.

"Once China opens the corn market to us, it will become one of the most important export markets of Argentina," Basso said.

With the United States - now China's major foreign corn source - and Argentina being located in different hemispheres, China will be able to import abundant volumes of corn year-round once it opens the market to Argentina, he added.