Dim Sums: Agricultural Markets in China

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 ...

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 circulati...

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 ...

A feed mill in China's Guangdong Province has been fined by authorities for using unapproved genetically modified corn as raw material. Could this be a signal that Chinese officials are ready to crack down on corn imports? The announcement was featured in news media as one of 10 "representative cases" of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs' campaign to "stabilize grain production, protect supply." Authorities say traces of imported GMO corn were found in the company's processing equipment in a sample inspection for GMOs. The feed company had not obtained a license to process agricultural GMOs. The batch of illegally processed corn totaled 31.02 metric tons. The corn had already been processed, but final products had not been sold, according to the description of the case. The company was fined 101,000 yuan (less than $14,000) and products were destroyed. Chinese agricultural authorities announce "representative cases" in GMO crackdow...

"' Borax pork' appears in the market again, serious investigation! " was the headline of a Guangzhou Daily article posted on many Chinese web sites earlier this month--including official Xinhua News. The article warned consumers that inspectors found that market vendors used borax to keep their pork moist and fresh-looking in a food market in south China. This appears to be a straightforward warning to consumers. But picking apart this "news" shows how authorities carefully control reporting of problems to manage public opinion and deflect blame for problems. According to the "borax pork" warning, borax was discovered during a "surprise inspection" of two food market vendors selling meatballs and pork in Panyu--a manufacturing hub and satellite city of Guangzhou in south China. Inspectors seized a box of borax used by a vendor to clean pig intestines, and chemical testing detected borax in some samples of meat. The inspection was carried...

The billions of RMB paid out to mitigate flooding and drought in China--including directives to replant crops in September within a month or two of harvest--suggest substantial damage to grain crops. Yet, Chinese authorities are sure to announce another huge harvest this year.  Funding of 732 million RMB was announced September 1, 2023 by the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs for drought mitigation in Gansu and Shaanxi Province; recovery from typhoon damage to crops in Jilin and Heilongjiang Province; and control of rice pests and diseases in Jiangxi and Hunan Provinces.  On August 25, the Gansu Provincial finance and agricultural departments issued 50 million RMB for emergency drought relief that paid for seeds, fertilizer, agricultural plastics and equipment to replant crops, and water engineering in the province. On August 30, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs held its videoconference to discuss use of agricultural machinery fo...

China's countryside is gradually turning into a warehouse for the country's aging population and the working-age population shrinks.  The "population pyramid" for China's countryside in 2020 has a hollowed-out base with relatively few people at peak working ages of 15-49. The largest cohort of rural people in 2020 were aged 50-54, with 24 million women and 25 million men in this age group. By contrast there were only 11 million males and 8 million females aged 15-19 in rural China during 2020.  Calculated from China's 2020 population census. Back in 2000, the rural population pyramid had a thicker base of working age people. Folks age 50-54 in 2020 (a baby boom born in the late '60s to make up for the starvation after Mao's "great leap forward") were aged 30-34--at peak working age. There were so many rural people at working age then that underemployment in the countryside was a major concern in the early 2000s. That cohort was also at peak c...