Farmer

The US-China soybean comeback that could reshape global markets

How can a single handshake in Busan reshape global soybean flows, US farm politics and China’s food security strategy all at once? Researcher Genevieve Donnellon-May analyses the implications and challenges to the latest US–China deal on soybeans trade.

Genevieve Donnellon-May

Soybeans, canola and power: How China turned food into a strategic weapon

Can food trade become a tool of geopolitical strategy? For China, the answer is yes. Researcher Genevieve Donnellon-May examines how China’s agricultural imports of agricultural products like canola and soybeans are being reshaped by ongoing tensions with Canada and the US.

Genevieve Donnellon-May

Coding crops: How AI is sowing change in rural China

Artificial intelligence (AI) farming might sound like a futuristic concept, but it is fast becoming a reality in China. AI usage has spread to rural areas, where young, tech-savvy farmers are using it as a tool to increase agricultural efficiency and productivity. Academic Zhang Tiankan tells us more.

Zhang Tiankan

[Video] Chinese farmers’ cry for help amid extreme weather

Chinese farmers are bearing the brunt of extreme weather events. Severe droughts in the north and deadly floods in the south are causing havoc. ThinkChina’s Yi Jina looks at the issue.

Yi Jina

[Video] The entrepreneurs transforming rural lives

Rock bands, street dance, drones and livestreaming — rural entrepreneurs are enriching the lives of local communities and introducing technologies and income sources. 

Yi Jina

Tackling food fraud upstream and downstream

Journalist Chieh-Yi Cheng notes that the traditional ways of food preparation have given way to high-tech production, leading to the improvement of food quality, as well as counterfeiting methods. It now becomes a cat-and-mouse game, with the need to boost efforts in surveillance, tracing funding sources, and tracking the quantity and movement of raw materials and ingredients, in order to nip the problem in the bud.

Chieh-Yi Cheng

[Video] Farmers' markets on China's 'slow trains': Going places

In today's fast-paced world, China's "slow trains" remain essential. They stop at many otherwise inaccessible areas, providing transport for rural residents and a means for them to bring their agricultural products to nearby towns. Designated cabins on the train turn into makeshift farmers' markets, especially in the run-up to Chinese New Year.

Yi Jina

Governing modern Chinese villages is a big challenge

Chinese academic Hu Ying notes that rural governance in China is facing new and diverse sets of challenges. While traditional rural governance looks after people's need for money, food and to protect their livelihoods, current rural issues could include the provision of public services, targeted poverty alleviation, land management and ecological protection. Not only that, traditional value systems are now a thing of the past as villagers gain an increased awareness of individual rights. The authorities would need different skills, and to be supported by new social structures in order to do their job well.

Hu Ying

Jack Ma an agriculture tsar?

Alibaba founder Jack Ma seems set to add "agricultural tycoon" to his list of titles, going by his latest moves to break into the agriculture industry. And he is not the only tech giant in town attempting to use big data and technology to increase agricultural yields. For China, this is a good move that would add to its food security, a priority laid out in its 14th Five-Year Plan. Zaobao's China Desk looks at Chinese agriculture's investment potential.

China Desk, Lianhe Zaobao

Beijing bans Taiwan fruit imports: Impoverishing Taiwan to achieve reunification?

Following a block of pineapple imports from Taiwan in February, mainland China has followed up with a halt on sugar apples and wax apples. While the blocks were seemingly due to pests found on the fruits, could there be a political reason behind the moves? And could the moves help achieve China's aim?

China Desk, Lianhe Zaobao

Lessons for China: The powerful position of the Japanese farming industry

Japan's farming industry occupies a special position in the country's political, economic and social development. Although farmers are few in number, they wield a strong influence. As a result, a protected farming ecosystem exists in Japan, which has enabled the country to make great strides in organic farming and reducing carbon emissions. The country has also been adept at leveraging its overseas industrial outposts to support its domestic farming sector. What can China learn from Japan's experience?

Qiao Xinsheng

Pandemic, floods, locusts and shrinking farming population: Will China suffer a food crisis?

China feeds about 20% of the global population, but its overall self-sufficiency in food seems to be dropping. Even though it is self-sufficient in some staples such as wheat, rice and corn, it is less so in others. In fact, it is the largest importer of food in the world. Recent calls by President Xi Jinping to cut food wastage has people thinking that political reasons aside, China's food supply is at risk. This risk could yet be amplified by changes in land policies, rural-urban migration and more.

Liu Chin-tsai