Fear the invasive species

China's heightened concerns about invasive species are adding more red tape and record-keeping requirements to the import process. A new set of requirements for soybean shipments probably contributed to reported delays in customs clearance over the past 6 months. 

On July 22, 2023 China customs announced that each port of entry will conduct a 3-year campaign to crack down on invasive species in imported cargoes and smuggling. According to the announcement growth in international trade has resulted in a growing number of invasive species entering the country, presenting a growing risk. In the first half of 2023 authorities said they intercepted 599 species of nonnative animals and plants, including giant centipedes, savage harvest ants, and spotted salamanders, and "exotic pets" brought in by criminal gangs. Problems include illegal mailing of seeds, plants hidden in shipments of toys, and smuggled tiger bones. 

More than 20 years ago, scientists from China's Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Ministry of Environmental Protection wrote in the Chinese journal Diversity Science that "impacts of biological invasions are becoming more serious problems with rising trade, transportation, travel, and ecological tourism." The scientists noted that species could be brought in with good intentions--citing introduction of water hyacinth and alligator weed as pig feed--but later have disastrous consequences. They noted that introduction of weeds and pests lead to sustained use of pesticides and speculated that an alien species invasion could become a "big bomb" for Chinese agriculture.

According to a report this month on Fujian Province's work on a national survey of invasive species, "The diffusion pathways of invasive alien species are diverse and concealed, and most invasive species can find suitable living environments in the country."

In October 2020 China issued a "Biosecurity Law". State media explained that this law added so-called "national door" biosecurity to the growing list of national security concerns (e.g. food, energy, information security and social stability).

China's Ministries of Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment, and the Administration of Customs are charged with implementing regulations on control of invasive species that took effect May 31, 2022.

In January 2023, those four Ministries issued a list of key invasive species that included 34 plants, 13 insects including the American white moth and leafminer, 4 plant pathogenic organisms, a nematode, 3 fish species, American bullfrogs, snapping turtles, and a red-eared turtle. 

This year a multi-year census of invasive species is being conducted. A series of meetings have been held around the country to raise awareness about the importance of preventing entry of particular pests and to discuss conduct of the invasive species census. 

Heightened attention to invasive species adds more layers of bureaucracy and inspection for exporters. In their explanation of the biosecurity law Customs officials explained they would implement 9 lines of biosecurity defense: tighten up quarantine access, conduct overseas pre-inspections, quarantine approvals, port inspections, laboratory testing, quarantine treatment, isolation and quarantine, limit imported materials to designated processing locations, and monitor epidemics. 

In early 2021 China's customs authorities began a video inspection campaign for foreign fruit suppliers and suspended access to China's market for 245 companies. 

In March 2023 customs authorities began a campaign to focus on imported soybeans as a potential vector for bringing invasive species into China. A detailed set of preventive measures have been adopted to inspect soybean shipments and track them as they move to storage and processing facilities inside China. Inspection and quarantine offices are instructed to develop annual inspection plans and check every importer annually or semi-annually. Inspections can be adjusted on the basis of a "risk analysis." 

Soybean imports must have a traceability and tracking plan that specifies the port of entry, dates and volumes of shipments, designated storage and processing facilities, and internal transportation plans.  Imported soybeans have to be stored in a facility surrounded by walls to ensure no contamination of surrounding from other storage and processing facilities. Companies must have the ability to purge invasive weeds or bacteria from shipments and burn or bury them. Transportation equipment has to be enclosed and measures must be taken to prevent leakage. Each shipment has to be tracked with an electronic form that passes from one customs office to the next as soybeans are transported to different locations. The form has to be sent back to the office at the point of entry for verification. Any company that fails to meet all the standards and procedures will lose their qualification to import soybeans.

Customs officials check a cargo of American soybeans for weed seeds and
other invasive species at a port in Liaoning Province during 2016.

Whose land? Whose corn? Chaos in Chinese fields

A video circulating in China last week may be the latest example of emboldened rural officials clearing aging villagers off collectively owned farmland. These enclosures with Chinese characteristics can be motivated by the need to increase productivity, lucrative opportunities to grow ornamental shrubs, or just plain corruption. The only power villagers have to assert their interests is their sheer numbers...and that's exactly what communist leaders are most afraid of.

The video appeared to show dozens of villagers stealing corn from a large field in Henan Province. A corn combine unable to complete its harvest sat idle as elderly villagers scooped up ears of corn into bags and loaded them into motorized carts parked in the field. Sirens sounded as police showed up but there were too many people to arrest. The operator of an idled corn combine unable to complete his harvesting work took a video of villagers fighting over a bag of corn in the field. While the videos circulating online were shot during the day, another video showed people in the fields at night gathering corn by flashlight. 

A literal "free-for-all" as villagers gathered corn
from a field in China's Henan Province.

No one seems to know what exactly was happening. Some accuse the people of stealing unharvested corn. Others say it was a common practice of gleaning leftover corn from fields that got out of control. 

Reports seem to agree that the field had been rented out to a company to grow corn.  county agriculture bureau issued a statement saying that a farming company that rented 400 mu (about 66 acres) had been able to complete the harvest of its corn after village officials had cleared people from the field. A netizen criticized the statement for trying to downplay the incident.

One source reported that village officials announced this year that farmers' land use rights would be contracted out to the farming company for 5 years with annual payments to villagers of 1000 yuan. Although participation was said to be voluntary, it was actually mandatory. After harvesting their winter wheat crop this summer, villagers had to turn over their land to the company to plant corn for fall harvest. Elderly farmers unable to work in cities had nothing else to do and came to the corn field to gather up as much grain as they could. It turned into a frenzy when so many people showed up.

An example of forced land transfer elsewhere in Henan was reported 2 years ago in an investigation of 'out of control' land transfer. In that case village committees gave farmers a verbal notice to give up their land, promised them rent and "grain for green" subsidies for planting landscaping trees, and gave them a blank agreement to sign. Many farmers were opposed but "ideological work" made them afraid to decline. Later, when villagers went to complain about rent not being paid they saw that the paper they had signed was a "forestry business contract" and the subsidies had been misappropriated by local officials. 

It's possible farmers in last week's video had been angered by a similar dispute. They may have been collecting the corn in lieu of unpaid rent or some other problem. 

The real explanation has not been revealed but the incident does reflect the chaos that can ensue when property rights are vaguely defined and officials with political power become the de facto owners. 

Brazilian Corn Pours into China; "Diversification" increases Dependence

Chinese State media celebrated growing purchases of Brazilian corn as a strategy for breaking the "dominant position" of U.S. corn in China's market. In an October 10 article, "China adjusts corn imports to shift toward Brazil, U.S. loses 'dominant position'," China's strongly nationalist Global Times said, "China is now carrying out corn import diversification to change the excessive reliance on the U.S. as a single supplier."

Citing Refinitiv data, Global Times was thrilled to report that August 2023 imports of U.S. corn were down 83% from a year earlier while corn imports from Brazil went from zero last August to 580,000 metric tons in August 2023. Moreover, Global Times reported that imports of Brazilian corn would rise to 1.22 million metric tons in September while imports of U.S. corn would drop to 70,000 metric tons.

China approved Brazilian corn for import late in 2022. Brazilian customs data show that 1 million tons a month were shipped last December and January. Brazil's new corn shipment campaign revved up again with 900,000 tons in July, 2.4 million tons in August and 3.5 million tons in September--shipments even bigger than those predicted by Global Times. 

Source: Brazil's customs data.

An article in Chinese news media last year implied that China had kept Brazil waiting for nearly a decade before fully consummating the deal. China had signed a protocol for Brazilian corn to enter China in March 2014, but it was never fully implemented because China had a huge glut of corn at the time and many GMO corn varieties grown in Brazil had not been approved. Only a few small test shipments of Brazilian corn reached China until 2022.

A surge of corn imports during 2012 first set off alarm bells in China because nearly all of it was supplied by the United States. Authorities thought that was the beginning of a corn import boom. They jumped into action by approving Ukraine and Brazil as additional corn suppliers. Also in 2012, a $3-billion loan was issued by the China export-import bank to fund agribusiness and infrastructure in Ukraine in 2012 to be repaid with grain shipments...so Ukraine's corn received full approval almost immediately. 

After Ukraine was approved, China suddenly began rejecting nearly every U.S. corn shipment during 2014/15, claiming to have found traces of an unapproved GMO corn variety. (Ukraine supposedly doesn't grow GMO corn.) Ukraine replaced the U.S. as China's sole supplier of corn for most of the next 6 years. Shipments were limited however due to China's worsening glut of corn that became evident in 2014. In 2016 China canceled the corn price support program that created the glut and sold off massive amounts of excess corn reserves during 2017-2020. 

Source: Analysis of China's customs data.

The United States came back into the picture in 2020/21 when China's excess corn reserves were depleted, Chinese corn prices spiked, and the Phase One trade deal committed China to import more U.S. farm products. This is when the U.S. (temporarily) gained the "dominant position" decried by Global Times. 

Then, in 2022, China's "friend without limits" invaded Ukraine, stole corn fields, destroyed warehouses and ports, and mined shipping lanes, severely disrupting Ukraine's corn shipments to China and elsewhere. China needed a new competitor for U.S. corn, so it finally opened its market to Brazil.

And it's probably entirely coincidental that China became very active in approving Brazilian corn and various other farm products for its market during 2022, just before Brazil became one of the first countries to pledge support for China's Qu Dongyu for re-election to a new term as the FAO's Director General in 2023. Two months after winning his new term in July, Qu took a trip to Brazil where he signed multiple agreements including a new research center on tropical crops. This couldn't possibly have been a reward for supporting Qu's candidacy.

While China claims to be diversifying its corn imports, the Brazilian corn pipeline will add to China's growing dependence on Brazil which is already a top supplier of China's imports of soybeans, cotton, beef, pork, and sugar. Brazil now supplies about 25% of China's agricultural imports, more than any other country. The U.S. share was 25% a decade ago but is now down to 16% so far in calendar year 2023. Other leading suppliers Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand supply about 5% each. 

*January-August 2023. Source: China's customs data.