Norway eyes seafood exports to China
Norway has come up with an ambitious plan to dramatically increase its seafood exports to China, and expects the trade to be worth 10 billion yuan ($1.45 billion) by 2025, the Norwegian Seafood Council said on Wednesday at a news conference in Beijing.
“The plan is based on Chinese consumers’ preference for Norwegian seafood, coupled with projected growth in second- and third-tier cities in China,” said the Norwegian Seafood Council’s director for the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, Sigmund Bjorgo.
“Norway, famous for its excellent quality salmon － with around 55 percent of all farmed salmon globally, aims to solidify its position in the salmon market in China, while growing the markets for other top quality seafood products as well.”
The council, which comes under the country’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries, said it aims to see Norwegian salmon consumption reach 156,000 metric tons in China and Norwegian arctic cod consumption to reach 40,000 tons by 2025, along with increased consumption of other species including halibut, mackerel, lumpfish, snow crab and king crab.
It also plans to establish a firm foothold in China for species including sea cucumber, blue mussels, mackerel and cold water shrimp.
Norway’s seafood exports to China in 2016 were worth 2 billion yuan, and consumption of Norwegian salmon in China has grown 300 percent since 2011, it said.
It is believed China will become Norway’s largest importer of its seafood soon as 51 percent of Chinese consumers already expressed a strong preference for Norwegian salmon in 2017, said the council.
“Norway is strongly committed to working with local government and business partners to ensure increased exports of seafood from Norway to China,” said Per Sandberg, Norway’s fisheries minister.
“Norwegian seafood companies are eager to supply Chinese consumers with more healthy and sustainable seafood.”
The council’s target for exports to China was unveiled one day after 140 Norwegian seafood industry representatives met their Chinese counterparts in Beijing, representing the industry’s largest ever trade delegation to a foreign country.
The President of the China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance Cui He said with the growing spending power of China’s middle class and the good quality of Norwegian salmon, seafood sales are expected to further expand in the coming years.
“It will take hard work from both the Chinese and Norwegian sides to achieve the goals, but given the market conditions in China and Norway’s strong seafood infrastructure, it’s just a matter of time.”
Source: China Daily Date: 2017-05-25
Opportunities for Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable export
The global demand for fruits and vegetables is forecast to soar in the near future, affording Vietnam a chance to expand to choosy markets such as Japan, the Republic of Korea and the US, as heard a seminar in Hanoi on May 24.
On the global market, fruits and vegetables account for over 59 percent of the total and are predicted to grow 2.88 percent for the 2016-2021 period, reported the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development (IPSARD).
Nguyen Duc Loc from the IPSARD said the demand for certified produce is growing. Over the past years, Vietnam has strived to improve the quality and hygiene of GAP certified products and issued regional codes for quality ones.
However, Vietnam still meets difficulties regarding fruits and vegetables preservation while connectivity between producers and businesses remains loose.
A representative from the Pan Group said the government targets restructuring agriculture towards a growth of 3.5- 4 percent from 2016-2020, with a focus on high-tech farming, but also admitted that the domestic farm produce quality management system and origin tracking capability remain weak.
Nigel Smith, General Director of the Fine Fruit Asia, said fruit is gaining the upper hand in regional exports and Vietnam is one of the important partners in ASEAN.
He suggested diversifying fruits and vegetables to ease reliance on China, and developing partnership between businesses, farmers and the government at the regional and sectoral level so that Vietnam’s fruits and vegetables could compete well in international market.
Source: VNA Date: 2017-05-25
Our AARTD family would like to thank our friends and partners for making CAHE 2017 a fantastic event to remember!
Our AARTD family would like to thank our friends and partners for making CAHE 2017 a fantastic event to remember! This year also marks our tenth anniversary. With your support we have made great steps in realizing our mission to “make Asia feed itself”. We are looking forward seeing everyone again soon! Your AARTD family
Central coastal provinces eye sustainable shrimp farming
A conference was held in the central province of Ha Tinh on May 16 to seek ways to sustainably develop sand-based shrimp farming, for which the central coastal region holds huge potential.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong elaborated that these provinces own favourable conditions such as clean saltwater sources. Meanwhile, they are also tourism destinations which are a good market for shrimp consumption.
The region ranks second, behind the Mekong Delta, in terms of shrimp farming. Notably, the north central provinces own great potential for rearing white-leg shrimps, he noted.
The region has a large area of sand, between 12,000 – 14,600ha, on which shrimp farming will make use of infertile soil here.
The Government has issued development directions for the shrimp sector, targeting export revenue of 8-10 billion USD by 2025.
However, the central coastal provinces are also vulnerable to natural disasters like storms and flood which have affected local infrastructure, Cuong added.
There are currently nearly 696,000ha of brackish water shrimp farming in Vietnam, with a total output of more than 657,000 tonnes. Shrimp products have been exported to 90 foreign markets, bringing home more than 3 billion USD each year.
Fourteen central coastal provinces are farming shrimps in a total areas of more than 3,730ha, a strong increase from about 2,380ha in 2010, producing nearly 42,000 tonnes of shrimps. High productivity is recorded in Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan.
However, sand-based shrimp farming in the central coastal region is carried out spontaneously. Local irrigation systems haven’t been built specifically for aquaculture, leading to the prevalence of shrimp diseases, according to the Directorate of Water Resources.
Minister Cuong asked the provinces to survey land that can be used for farming shrimps while ensuring environmental protection and the farming of other animals or crops.
Meanwhile, businesses should connect with each another and with farmers to develop shrimp breeding and farming technology, share experience and boost sales. Relevant ministries and sectors need to have planning for shrimp farming areas and work out development solutions for this industry, he added.
Source: VNA
Agreement to boost Vietnam – EU legal timber trade
Vietnam and the EU have just concluded negotiations for a voluntary partnership agreement (VPA) on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT), according to the EU delegation to Vietnam on May 16.
The agreement is expected to improve forest management, deter illegal logging, and boost trade of Vietnamese legal timber products with the EU and other markets.
After nearly six years of negotiation, the agreement, recently initialed by Astrid Schomaker, Director for Global Sustainable Development at the European Commission’s Directorate General for the Environment, and Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ha Cong Tuan, marks the official completion of the negotiations.
The agreement is now under legal review and shall be ratified by the two sides before becoming effective.
In order to implement the VPA, Vietnam will develop a timber legality assurance system (VNTLAS) in order to ensure all timber and timber products from a partner country comply with the law of that country.
The agreement also requires establishment of independent petition and evaluation mechanisms, as well as commitments among concerned partners in implementing and public disclosure of information.
A joint committee will supervise the VPA implementation. The two sides have also agreed on key factors needed in preparation for the implementation of the agreement.
Once the VPA is fully implemented, all timber and timber products destined for the EU market will be required to be enclosed with FLEGT licences to prove their legality.
Vietnam will begin issuing FLEGT licences when the timber legality assurance system has been successfully tested to ensure that all commitments as described in the VPA have been satisfied and in line with the criteria stated in the agreement’s appendixes.
Besides economic, social and environmental benefits, the FLEGT licences are expected to facilitate wood exporters’ activities.
Vietnam is among 15 countries negotiating the VPA with the EU.
Indonesia was the first Asian country to initial a VPA, with FLEGT licencing beginning on November 15, 2016.
Source: VNA
Central Highlands to cut coffee cultivation area
Total coffee growing area in the four Central Higlands provinces will be reduced by about 53,000ha by 2020, according to the Steering Committee for the Central Highlands Region.
The move is part of efforts to designate the region as a key coffee growing area that is adaptable to climate change and developing sustainably.
By 2020 it is expected that Dak Lak province will have 190,000ha of coffee, 150,000ha in Lam Dong, 115,000ha in Dak Nong, and 75,000ha in Gia Lai, making a total of 530,000ha.
Based on the planning, the provinces will review and cut down areas that are inefficient and unsuitable for sustainable development.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development told the localities to study coffee varieties which have high productivity and quality and are resistant to insects and adaptive to climate change.
In the short term, the localities were asked to use new varieties with high productivity from 4.2 tonnes to 7 tonnes of beans per hectare to maintain the region’s total output of 1.3 million tonnes despite the shrinking area.
Source:VNA Date: 2017-05-16
Farmers reap benefits of planting local trees
A former plunderer of valuable trees in the nation’s forests is now making a decent living from planting and nurturing them.
He is part of a growing trend in the central province of Quang Binh where residents are planting trees that used to grow in local forests instead of easily harvestable ones like cajeput.
The longer-term strategy is helping them earn billions of dong while better protecting the local environment and helping preserve different kinds of valuable local trees.
A four-hectare forest in Ha village, Thanh Hoa commune, Tuyen Hoa district, has valuable trees said to be facing a high risk of extinction, like ironwood, canary-wood and aloe wood.
The forest is the lifelong achievement of farmer Dinh Xuan Dien, 78.
Dien said that in 1997, after a long time of working as illegal logger, he quit the job, unable to witness anymore the destruction he and his peers were wreaking on the nation’s forest and the environment. At that time, the State was encouraging citizens to join a campaign of planting forests.
Dien decided to take wild piece of land, which happened to be a national historic site, to plant trees and set up a farm.
Unlike other people, Dien did not plant trees like eucalyptus and cajeput, focusing instead on what used to grow traditionally in the area, like ironwood, canary-wood and aloe wood.
At that time, no person in the area could germinate these trees, so Dien took saplings from the forest. He did this over many years, taking saplings from the forest and planting them on his land. His patience and care has seen his forest grow to more than 2,000 ironwood trees, 500 canary wood trees and thousands of other trees.
Dien is the only man in the province with such a large collection of ironwood trees. Each of them has a diameter of about 50cm and is several dozen metres tall.
Dien and his family have lived well for several years now on income from forestry products. He sells ironwood mushrooms for 2 million VND (90 USD) per kilogramme, as well as fruits like grapefruits, oranges, jackfruits and bananas.
In 2014, Dien earned 600 million VND (26,600 USD) from selling aloe wood.
“I could have harvested early if I had planted eucalyptus and other kinds of trees. But this would not be good for the environment. I planted local trees with the hope of giving back to the forest its natural beauty and maintaining different kinds of valuble wood trees that I used to destroy.”
Dien is not the only person in the province that has shifted to planting and nurturing local trees.
Nguyen Xuan Thiet lives in Huong Hoa commune, Tuyen Hoa district. He converted 15ha of cajeput forest into one that was home to local trees including ironwood. The forest earns his family an income of several million dong (100 million VND equals 4,300 USD) per year.
Nguyen Tri Phuong, head of Tuyen Hoa district’s Agriculture and Rural Development Division, said that the time taken to plant and harvest local trees was double that of others, but the income it brought in many times more than industrial trees like cajeput and eucalyptus.
Planting local trees not only earned them good profits, but also protected the environment and preserved valuable trees that were in danger of being lost forever, he said.
Source: VNA Date:2017-05-15
Vision and Action on Jointly Promoting Agricultural Cooperation on the Belt and Road
Since the world entered the 21st century, the pace for economic integration has quickened, giving rise to a new era of peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit. In September and October of 2013, President Xi Jinping P. R. China proposed the initiative of jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (Belt and Road Initiative) during visits to Central and Southeast Asia respectively, which has attracted close attention from the world. Rooted in the principle of mutual consultation, joint efforts and shared interests, the Initiative is committed to a free trade system and an open global economy, encouraging countries along the Belt and Road (B&R) to achieve coordination of economic policies and jointly creating an open, inclusive and balanced regional economic cooperation architecture that benefits all.
Agricultural exchanges and trade were an important part of the ancient Silk Road, via which flax, pomegranate, alfalfa, grape and other plants came to China, and Chinese know-how and products like well digging, silk and tea went to Central Asia and farther. Countries were benefited from wider spread of farming skills and commodities. Agricultural civilization expanded and prospered in Asia, Europe and Africa through closer connectivity of countries. In the new era, agriculture remains the foundation of the national economy in B&R countries, and agricultural cooperation is their common pursuit since many long to fight hunger, eradicate poverty, and achieve food and nutrition security. Therefore under the Initiative, agricultural cooperation can be a good foothold for B&R countries to build a community of common interests and destiny.
In the past three years, great progress has been made in agricultural cooperation between China and countries along the Belt and Road. We have entered into proactive collaborations and connection through bilateral and multilateral cooperative mechanisms. Cooperative scope has expanded in width and depth, and is joined by increasing number of players in diversified ways. This Vision and Action is thus drafted to foster top-level design on agricultural cooperation along the Belt and Road.
I. Background
Now the world is undergoing profound and complex changes. As repercussions of the financial crisis linger on, the economy recovers at a slow pace, and development is uneven. Trade and investment landscape and multilateral rules are undergoing major adjustments. The Initiative to jointly build the Belt and Road, embracing the trend towards a multi-polar world, economic globalization, cultural diversity and greater IT application, is a positive endeavor to seek new models of international cooperation and global governance.
Transformation has also occurred in the global agricultural development structure in recent years. Climate change inflicts deeper and deeper impact upon major grain producing regions. Bio-energy, financial speculation and other non-traditional factors build up uncertainties in the global agricultural market. Food insecurity and poverty plague many developing countries, and there are still 795 million people suffering from chronic hunger and 2 billion people from malnutrition. Lack of momentum for a sustained growth and changes in the supply and demand structure at agricultural market are the new issues and challenges for countries all over the world to address jointly. Especially, it’s imperative for many countries along the Belt and Road to achieve food and nutrition security and eliminate hunger and poverty. So there is an urgent need to conduct cooperation to jointly promote agricultural sustainability.
In post financial crisis years, countries are even more committed to agriculture which is foundation of the economy, paying more attention to the integration and utilization of global agricultural resources and deep exploration of agricultural market, thus more aspirant to carry out cooperation. This brings historic opportunities for countries to promote agricultural cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative. Now China is working closely with Belt and Road countries to dock strategies and build framework for cooperation. The bolstered bilateral and multilateral mechanisms offer platforms and infrastructure connectivity and financial intermediation provide guarantees to pursue the endeavor. Favorable conditions are laid for countries to achieve complementarities in agriculture and share development opportunities.
China’s agricultural sector and that of the world are closely connected. It is significant to boost agricultural cooperation along the Belt and Road, which is necessitated by the need for China to further expand and deepen the opening-up, and for the world agriculture to grow in a sound and sustained way. It is also significant in its conduciveness to shape the landscape of agricultural cooperation in the world, and tap comparative advantages of countries along the Belt and Road. It will foster orderly flow of factors, efficient allocation of resources, and deep integration of markets in the region, and facilitate B&R countries to gain economic benefits and win-win growth. Since late 1970s, China has scored achievements in agriculture and rural areas and made contributions to the world food security. Committed to shouldering more responsibilities and obligations within its ability, China is ready to contribute its wisdom to the global governance on food and agriculture, and share experience with Belt and Road countries so as to contribute more to agricultural and economic growth in the world.
II. Principles
Policy coordination. Countries along the Belt and Road are supported to conduct vision matching and policy dialogue, seek convergence of interests and the maximum common interest, and jointly hammer out the top-level design for key areas, leading industries, and important products of common concerns. Existing mechanisms should be fully tapped to drive forth long-lasting agricultural cooperation along the Belt and Road in an innovative manner.
Market operation. Companies are leading players. Market is to play the decisive roles in resource allocation, and market rules and international norms are to be followed. Enterprises will be supported to conduct cooperation among them to seek complementarities and common development.
Government service. Cooperation mechanisms among governments will guide and work for agricultural cooperation along the Belt and Road. Efforts will be made to deepen opening-up, improve investment and trade facilitation, set up or improve the service network, and optimize the atmosphere for cooperation.
Green and sharing. Countries are respected to choose their own development path and mode. Agricultural cooperation along the Belt and Road echoes goals on food and agriculture of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and advocates the principle of mutual consultation, joint efforts and shared interests for a green Silk Road. Concerted efforts are solicited to realize agricultural modernization with high efficiency, product safety, resource conservation and environmental consciousness.
Mutual benefit. Interests and concerns of all parties will be accommodated, advantages in agriculture of all countries be synergized, and cooperative potentials tapped. Cooperation along major economic corridors will be cemented to drive forward the whole cooperation process and build new cooperative ties along the Belt and Road marked by interdependence, mutual benefit, equality, safety and efficiency.
III. Framework
The Belt and Road run through the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa, connecting the vibrant East Asian economic circle with a long farming history at one end and the developed European economic circle with advantages in modern agriculture at the other. It links up countries with rich resources and huge potential across vast regions that enjoy advantages and complementarities in agricultural resources, technologies, productivity, and markets.
It is the shared vision and aspiration for countries along the Belt and Road to promote cooperation and develop agriculture. China is ready to work together with Belt and Road countries to plan and implement a group of key projects and build the new structure of agricultural cooperation with links running eastward and westward over land and sea, which supports the shaping of the community of shared interests, the community of shared responsibilities, and the community of shared future along the Belt and Road.
The Chinese government proposes that Belt and Road countries seek complementarities through stronger connection of strategies on agricultural cooperation, on basis of the principle of mutual consultation, joint efforts and shared interests and concepts of peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and benefits under the Belt and Road Initiative, accommodate interests and concerns of all parties involved, proceed from science and technology, focus on policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration, and people-to-people bonds to deepen collaborations on optimal technologies, priority products, and trade and investment along the six economic corridors (new Eurasian Land Bridge, China-Mongolia-Russia, China-Central Asia-West Asia, China-Indochina Peninsula, China-Pakistan, and Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar), and work jointly for a full-fledged and wide-ranged new cooperative relationship.
IV. Priorities
Belt and Road countries, with great potential and broad fields for cooperation, need to proceed from common development goals and advantages to seek closer collaborations in the following key areas:
Policy dialogue platform. We should enhance policy communication, improve existing policy dialogue mechanisms at different levels, and establish a tripartite policy dialogue platform for governments, institutes, and enterprises to exchange views on development and dock strategies, work out plans and measures to press forward cooperation, address problems through consultation, and provide policy support for pragmatic cooperation and implementation of key projects.
Agricultural science and technology. We should prioritize science and technology cooperation and strengthen knowledge sharing, technology transfer, information communication, and personnel exchanges through multiple channels. In accordance with needs of countries along the Belt and Road and the bigger picture of international cooperation on agricultural science and technology, we should establish joint labs, experiment and demonstration bases and agricultural science and technology demonstration parks (zones), prevent and control animal and plant diseases and outbreaks, and conduct germplasm exchange, joint research and showcase of findings to enhance exchanges on species, technology, and products. We should jointly build the public information service platform(s) for agricultural cooperation along the Belt and Road, the technical advice and service system(s), and high-end think tank(s) and training base(s), so as to promote regional Internet of Things in agriculture and capacity of B&R countries to grow agriculture.
Agricultural trade. We should jointly build routes and infrastructure for integrated logistics such as transportation and storage so as to improve facilitation, increase volumes and expand fields on trade. We should encourage building all kinds of stable channels for trade of Belt and Road products and boost cross-border e-commerce. We should have closer cooperation on inspection and quarantine, and jointly develop safe, efficient and convenient traceability system(s) and supervision and control measures to inspect and quarantine imports and exports so as to regulate market behaviors and secure a higher level of animal and plant health and safety in Belt and Road countries.
Agricultural investment. We should draw on comparative strength in agriculture and cooperative mechanisms and channels of international financial institutions to increase investment in infrastructure and the whole industrial chain including production, processing, storage, transportation and distribution and impel the implementation of key projects. We should upgrade collaborations among enterprises, adopt all possible ways to improve their capacity and profile for transnational investment, and promote mutually beneficial growth of agribusinesses. We should encourage two way investment into agriculture. China welcomes agricultural investment from enterprises of Belt and Road countries and encourages Chinese enterprises to take up social responsibilities and contribute to agricultural development along the Belt and Road by assisting the host country to advance agriculture, create employment opportunities, and improve livelihood.
Capability building and non-governmental exchanges. We should foster farmer-focused capacity building and non-governmental exchange activities. Efforts should be made to jointly provide vocational education and training to empower farmers with necessary capacities and organizational skills, and build up confidence and trust among involved countries. We should also collectively build training bases for transnationals to cultivate all around talents and managers.
V. Mechanisms
For smooth implementation of collaborative activities as planned, countries along the Belt and Road should build on existing mechanisms and improve modalities creatively to vigorously promote agricultural cooperation.
Bilateral cooperation between governments. We should conduct communication and consultation at different levels through various channels to seek comprehensive development of bilateral relations so as to support agriculture cooperation. We should facilitate signing of memorandums or formulating of plans on agricultural cooperation under the MOUs of cooperation on the joint development of the “Belt and Road” between governments. We should play the role of existing high-level cooperative mechanisms to attract more Belt and Road countries and territories as well as international and regional organizations to set up high quality active agricultural cooperation mechanisms. We should underscore intergovernmental talks on treaties and instruments to accelerate the signing of bilateral investment and trade agreements, and enhance communication and coordination to heighten cooperation on investment protection, finance, taxation, customs clearance, inspection and quarantine, and personnel exchanges to meet enterprise needs with government services, thus creating a sounder environment and better conditions for agricultural cooperation along the Belt and Road Multilateral cooperation mechanisms. We should deepen cooperation with IOs and give full play to existing agriculture related multilateral mechanisms such as the G20, APEC, SCO, UNESCAP, the Asia Cooperation Dialogue, the League of Arab States, China–ASEAN, and the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation. We should also deepen cooperation with the WTO, FAO, OIE, IPPC, IFAD, WFP, and the CGIAR, and with global and regional developmental financial institutions such as the WB, ADB, NDB, AIIB, and SRF to explore new financial services, thus creating an open, inclusive, equitable, competitive and mutual beneficial environment for agricultural cooperation.
Major conferences and forums. We should make the most of platforms set up by major conferences and forums such as the China-Africa Cooperation Forum, the Boao Forum for Asia, Roundtable Meeting on ASEAN Plus Three Food Security Cooperation Strategy, the China-ASEAN Exposition, the China-South Asia Expo, the China-Eurasia Exposition, the China-Central and Eastern European Countries Economic and Trade Forum, the China-Central and Eastern European Countries Cooperation Forum on Entry-Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine & Quality and Safety of Agricultural Products, and the China-Arab States Exposition. Within the framework of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, we should establish a dialogue mechanism for Belt and Road agricultural cooperation, a research and communication platform for agricultural planning, and an information-sharing platform for agricultural resources, industries, technologies, and policies at the Belt and Road portal.
Overseas agricultural cooperation parks (zones). We should work together to jointly build agro-industrial parks to seek cluster and platform effect so as to reduce the cost of agricultural cooperation and prevent risks. We should also guide and support enterprises to participate in parks’ construction and operation, and infrastructure development in sectors including planting, animal farming, processing, and logistics to optimize the agro-industrial chain, thus supporting the connectivity of the economic corridors and the maritime Silk Road. Demonstration zones for agricultural cooperation can be jointly established on basis of aspiration and local conditions of B&R countries to support and showcase Belt and Road agricultural cooperation
VI. Action and Future
The Chinese government has been promoting and expanding the opening-up of agriculture and optimizing policy frameworks to partake in the process of agricultural globalization. The Belt and Road countries have been priority areas for China to have cooperation in agriculture for years. Many provinces and autonomous regions have taken advantage of their linkages in location and culture with neighboring countries for conducive and productive cooperation. Western provinces and autonomous regions collaborated with Central Asian countries in dry-land farming of grain, cotton and animal production, while northern provinces worked together with Russia in cereal and vegetable production in the Far East region, and southern provinces proceed from tropical agriculture to engage in cooperation with Southeast Asia and South Asia on grain and cash crop cultivation. All have made notable achievements. In addition, China has explored many ways to assist B&R countries to raise production and improve the ability for safety and health control such as construction of technology demonstration centers, fielding experts, and training technicians and administrators, thus making positive contribution to the world food security.
In the future, China will keep promoting agricultural cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative by partaking in the development of regional agricultural cooperation platform(s), supporting talks on agriculture-related trade and investment agreements bilaterally or multilaterally, jointly devising the plan of bilateral cooperation on agricultural investment, increasing agricultural investment in least developed countries, facilitating implementation of 10 cooperation plans between China and Africa, mobilizing the “South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund” and promoting South-South Cooperation in agriculture, supporting developing countries to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, engaging in agricultural cooperation with developed countries innovatively, assisting in formation of a new pattern of relationship on agricultural cooperation, and promoting agricultural sustainability in the world.
Next, China will promote building of overseas demonstration parks (zones) for agricultural cooperation and domestic cooperative experiment zones for agricultural opening-up and cooperate with Belt and Road countries in finance, taxation, insurance, and inspection and quarantine of animals and plants, bolstered exchanges of personnel and information, sharing of agricultural technologies, experience, and development modalities, and jointly planning and implementing seven key projects, i.e. enhancing comprehensive grain productivity in the region, science and technology cooperation and demonstration, joint prevention and control of animal and plant diseases and outbreaks, agricultural vertical integration, strengthening trade infrastructure, building the platform for agricultural R&D and training, and developing IT application network(s) for agriculture.
The Belt and Road Initiative is proposed by China but shares common aspiration of countries along the route. China is ready to work with Belt and Road countries under the existing bilateral and multilateral cooperative mechanisms and frameworks and walk toward each other to promote agricultural cooperation along the Belt and Road to another broader and higher stage that respects interests and appeals of all parties concerned. China is willing to make greater contribution to food and nutrition security and agricultural sustainability in the world.
Source: MOA Date: 2017-05-15
China’s taste for Australian beef a blessing for the industry
A continually growing demand for Australian cattle from China is likely to make the industry going from strength to strength, according to experts who are lauding China’s taste for Aussie beef.
Following news that Australia’s richest woman and mining magnate Gina Rinehart was seeking to ramp up cattle exports to China, industry experts have said that Australia’s beef industry was likely to see a robust growth.
Michael Whitehead from the ANZ Bank’s agribusiness sector overnight told News Corp that it is was no wonder Australia’s richest were continuing to pour their money into the beef industry, citing Rinehart and retail giant Gerry Harvey as examples of prime beef investors.
“Being in control of the start of the beef supply chain is a great place to be if protein is going to be increasingly in short supply,” Whitehead said of Australia’s beef industry.
“Investors, too, are starting to look for industries that can’t be disrupted. You can disrupt banks, hotels, media, taxis and property, but how do you disrupt Australian beef?”
“So it follows that if you are a billionaire, it is obvious that you will never lose your money by buying and investing in Australian cattle properties. It’s a great project and space to be in.”
Harold Mitchell, a prominent Australian beef investor, told News Corp that unlike the mining boom, after which demand for resources dropped, it was highly unlikely that a demand for basic proteins such as beef would subside, instead predicting that demand would continue to rise for decades to come, even if prices come down when supply catches up with demand.
“I’ve been a great supporter of the industry and still think it has a long way to go. There will always be a shortage of protein in a growing world,” he said.
“The China trade is just starting to take off and the US has had so much demand for our hamburger meat; but things are changing fast and we are right at a point where the price of stock is so high that I fear a (price) collapse is coming.”
He said if Australian suppliers could breed more beef cattle, Australia would be able to meet the demands for both local and overseas consumers for decades in the future.
Source: China Daily Date: 2017-05-12
Thailand sugar production rises
Thailand produced 10 million tonnes of sugar from 93 million tonnes of sugarcane during the 2016-2017 crop from December 6, 2016 to the first week of May 2017.
The figure represents an improvement on last year, when the country produced 9.8 million tonnes of sugar from 94.5 million tonnes of sugarcane.
Rains in several sugar planting areas resulted in abundant sugarcane with higher sugar content.
Better yields in the 2016-2017 season has benefited Thailand, the world’s second largest sugar exporter, especially with global sugar prices on the rise, a situation likely to encourage farmers to switch from rice to sugarcane.
Previously, experts projected that global sugar production will increase to 190.3 million tonnes in 2017-2018 crop from 176.9 million tonnes in the 2016-2017 crop.
Source: VNA Date 2017-05-12
