Itochu says in tie-up with COFCO on food buying

TOKYO, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Japanese trading house Itochu Corp (8001.T) said on Monday it has signed a tie-up deal with COFCO, China's largest agricultural trading and processing company, in global food purchasing.

The companies plan to jointly buy grains and other goods from around the world, and they are discussing other details of the alliance including expansion of sales channels for Japanese rice and other products, an Itochu spokeswoman said. (Reporting by Sachi Izumi; Editing by Chris Gallagher)