Clenbuterol and Mutton Prices

Yesterday's post on high mutton prices neglected to mention the influence of a crackdown on clenbuterol use. In August and September 2011 news media revealed the "open secret" of widespread use of clenbuterol by sheep herders in Shandong and other parts of northern China (about 5 months after the pork clenbuterol incident hit the news). The Ministry of Agriculture sent out inspection teams and is threatening dealers and users of clenbuterol with big fines or jail time.

An article in the Dalian Evening News in February noted that mutton prices were high and the volume of sales in Dalian was at its lowest point in ten years. Some industry people interviewed by the paper attributed a short supply of mutton to the crackdown on clenbuterol. Clenbuterol reportedly can add 1.5-to-2 kilograms of lean meat per sheep. The ban means that sheep have less muscle and more fat, reducing the supply of meat.

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Xi Jinping's Doctoral Thesis

Xi Jinping is the vice president and presumed next president of China but little is known about him. In this post the dimsums blog offers its contribution to the genre of Xi Jinping-ology by conveying Xi's decade-old views on agricultural markets. Ten years ago Xi Jinping wrote a thesis, "Tentative Study of Agricultural Marketization" (中国农村市场化研究) for a Doctor of Law degree at Tsinghua University in Beijing, a top breeding-ground for Chinese officials. The dimsums blogger has spent several hours poring over the 200-plus page tome to see what it reveals about Dr. Xi. The thesis is remarkably close to what China has been doing lately in agricultural policy, suggesting that Xi (or the person who actually wrote the thesis) has a major say in policy or is at least in agreement with what's being done. There is nothing adventurous, controversial (or insightful) in the thesis. It seems to be the work of a wonkish technocrat who is not prone to talk out of turn or wander from...

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Dim Sums: Agricultural Markets in China

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