Trade War Stimulates New Chinese "Land Grabs"

As trade tensions with the U.S. flare up, Chinese companies are setting up giant farms in Africa, Asia and Russia according to Chinese news media. The news echoes an earlier wave of so-called "land grabs" that were over-hyped and mostly ineffectual.

Earlier this month, a Beijing Times Caijing article, "Why are Chinese companies flocking overseas to farm?" explained that the phenomenon reflects China's strategic considerations for ensuring food security and its far-reaching intention to reconstruct international trade. The article connects the farming investments to trade frictions between the U.S. and China, the use of agricultural products as a bargaining chip in "geopolitical games," and the "huge risk" of relying on the U.S. and Brazil for 90% of its soybean imports.

An edible oils news site proclaimed that "a new wave of 'going global' in the agricultural and food sector has begun," with more and more companies investing in agriculture and food and participate in global food resource allocation."

A Chinese farm in Zambia in 2019. Source: Economic Observer.

Both articles featured a 100,000-hectare corn and soybean farming project in Angola with $250 million of investment planned by CITIC Construction after signing a memorandum of understanding with the Angolan Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. CITIC will have a "secure stable supply" through long-term land lease agreements. The company pledged to establish a full agricultural value chain, including seed R&D, technology promotion, processing facilities and a logistics system. 

Angola's minister of agriculture and forestry said about 60% of soybeans and other ag products from the CITIC project will be exported to China. The rest will be consumed in Angola. According to the description, the project will help diversify China's overseas food sources and reduce Angola's dependence on food imports. 

During the same month, China Hydropower signed an agreement to obtain 30,000 hectares in eastern Angola with a 25-year tax concession to build logistics infrastructure and a seed research and testing center. This project is intended to attract other Chinese agricultural companies.

Business Times also pointed to Chaoliang Group's development of a 32,000 hectare project to grow soybeans in Tanzania.

Both articles also cited Wanlin Group's June 2025 agreement with Uzbekistan's agriculture minister to build a 10,000-hectare farming base that will produce vegetables and soybeans and process dehydrated and frozen vegetables in an Uzbekistan industrial park. 

These articles echo an earlier round of sensational announcements of giant overseas farming projects in the aftermath of the 2006-07 global food price spike. Business Times touted the superiority of the "Chinese model" over "Western" investments in Africa--citing application of modern technology, drip irrigation to conserve water, and inclusion of processing industry--but these sound a lot like an earlier generation of announcements that never were executed.

Back in 2010, the same edible oils news site reporting the new Angolan project trumpeted news that Chongqing Grain Group was buying 53,000 hectares of land to grow soybeans in Brazil with plans to reclaim an additional 67,000 hectares of uncultivated land and expand in Argentina. Another company, Zhejiang Fudi, gave Chongqing Grain Group 16,800 hectares of Brazilian land it had acquired in 2008. Chongqing Grain Group's chairman explained that the project was part of the company's plan to secure food supplies for the city of Chongqing, to go public, and to expand globally. The project never materialized and years later the land was still idle. By 2024, an article reviewing Chongqing Grain Group's escape from the brink of financial collapse observed that all its projects in Brazil and Argentina had failed, contributing to financial losses and heavy debt.

In 2011, Heilongjiang Beidahuang Nongken Co. announced it was negotiating an agreement with the Argentina Province of Rio Negro to cultivate 300,000 hectares of uncultivated land to grow grain, soybeans, vegetables and wine. The project was expected to include a hydro power plant and port logistics. This project languished after local opposition emerged based on environmental concerns. 

The latest round of projects may also be fake or doomed. The Chinese companies named in the articles are engaged in construction, dam-building, and textile manufacturing, and none appear to have experience in farming. Business Times hinted that CITIC Group is already encountering challenges obtaining rights to the land it wants to develop in Angola. Business Times also cited common problems that have undermined past Chinese farming projects such as weak local infrastructure, underdeveloped legal systems and insufficient supplies of skilled local labor. 

Business Times said geopolitical risks are the most prominent uncertainty. It's probably a coincidence that the announcement of the Angolan farming projects came at the same time rioting broke out in Angola in late July. The rioting was triggered by fuel prices but looting focused on Chinese businesses in Luanda's Chinatown. The Angolan riots are a reminder that China's giant farming projects are predominantly in unstable countries, a natural consequence of targeting countries with weak property rights and corrupt officials where it's relatively easy to acquire huge tracts of land. 

There are examples of smaller-scale Chinese farming projects in Africa, but the recent murder of one such farmer illustrates the risk of farming in Africa. On August 2, a 57-year-old Chinese woman operating a chicken and vegetable farm in Zambia was confirmed to have been murdered after having been kidnapped from her home in July.