Dim Sums: Agricultural Markets in China

A journalist found swine inventories were only 5-to-20 percent of normal in 7 of 10 Chinese counties visited this month. This and several other surveys dug out of the Chinese internet reveal the degree to which hog numbers were decimated by African swine fever and the real challenges facing recovery. Facts on the ground are in sharp contrast to propaganda about rebounding production being trumpeted by Chinese news media. The article, " Inventories have fallen again in 10 major nationally-known swine-raising counties! At the end of the year inventories have fallen 75% since June in Xiangtan, Longyan, and Qionglai " was originally published by Nong Cai Bao Dian's (农财宝典) livestock news based in Guangdong Province (the site now appears to be inaccessible). The journalist followed up an earlier report on swine numbers in these counties by checking official statistics and interviewing local industry people. The journalist described her data as "rough" estimates and...

Winning the "war on poverty" is China's rural policy priority for next year, but worries about grain supplies received a surprising amount of attention at the "rural work meeting" for Chinese officials held last week. Trade with the United States does not appear to have been formally discussed, but the urgency to increase rural income and bolster profits for grain producers emphasized at the meeting appear to clash with China's commitment to import more U.S. commodities. Officials were instructed to shore up rural infrastructure and water supplies, clean up village sanitation and housing, and improve rural education, health care, social insurance and public services. Poverty alleviation efforts are elevated as China rushes to achieve an "all-round moderately well-off (小康) society," an objective first articulated 40 years ago by Deng Xiaoping, amplified by Xi Jinping, and due to be achieved in 2020 according to communist party dogma. The party sec...

China's reporting on the Phase I trade agreement's agricultural purchases from the United States has been limited to comments at a December 13 press conference made by Vice Minister of Agriculture Han Jun and other officials. The 11-pm press conference featured sub-cabinet officials: the deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission and vice ministers of commerce, finance, and agriculture. Officials emphasized that negotiations with the United States were based on principles of equality and mutual respect. They revealed that the agreement includes chapters addressing intellectual property rights, technology transfer, food and agricultural products, financial services, exchange rates and transparency, trade expansion, bilateral assessments, and dispute settlement. They told journalists that the text of the agreement will be released after completion of legal reviews and translation checks, and a time, place and other arrangements for signing the agreement w...

Huawei and ChemChina are key players in building an agricultural industry based on technological innovation, according to China's agriculture minister. In November, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs website featured visits by Minister Han Changfu to Beijing research centers operated by the two companies to tout China's hope for technology to overcome challenges such as pest pressures, increasingly scarce and unreliable workers, and chaotic supply chains. Han Changfu visits Syngenta research center. Photo: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Minister Han first visited a plant-breeding lab and greenhouse at a Beijing research center operated by Syngenta, the Swiss seed and agrochemical giant acquired by the State-owned China National Chemical Corporation, aka ChemChina in 2016--China's biggest-ever overseas acquisition. According to the article, Syngenta's resources have been integrated into Chinese agriculture since it was acquired by ChemChi...

Chinese officials plan to restore normal pork production by 2021 via a crash farm-building campaign and other measures that include ordering local officials to ensure local pork self-sufficiency, reconfiguring the slaughter industry, and setting up rigid pork supply pipelines. At the same time, officials plan to address chronic problems by shoring up disease prevention and dotting the countryside with tanks to collect millions of tons of manure and diseased carcasses. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs circular, " Three-year plan to speed up recovery of hog production " issued on December 4 calls for achieving a small rebound in pork output by the end of 2019, rebuilding production capacity by the end of 2020, and restoring normal pork supplies in 2021. The announcement aimed to impress local officials with the program's importance by citing Xi Jinping's many "important directives and instructions" and "clear requirements" issued by ...

China hosted African agricultural leaders for a forum this week where Chinese officials pledged to expand and deepen cooperation, investment, and trade with African agriculture over the next 3 years. Photo from China Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. According to China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs , 500 representatives from African countries and international organizations attended the meeting hosted by the Ministry and the Hainan Provincial Government in the provincial capital of Sanya, December 9. Attendees heard speeches from China's Minister and Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Hainan governor, and African leaders. China's ag minister emphasized the "huge potential" for China-Africa cooperation in agriculture in the "new era" proclaimed by Xi Jinping. The focus of cooperation will be on food security, poverty alleviation, agricultural science and technology, agricultural modernization, and giving develo...