Tech companies try to build a smarter farming industry on mainland China
As food scandals mount, companies make risky move into unfamiliar field to capitalise on demand for safer alternatives
It has been a four year-journey - one marked by mockery and doubt - for internet pioneer NetEase to bring its first pigs to market. You read that correctly - pigs.
The mainland internet pioneer is one of a growing number of companies better known for their manufacturing or online commerce sites that are dabbling in agriculture.
Growing public despair over a never-ending parade of food scandals - plus an eye for a commercial opportunity - has prompted these successful businesses to undertake what some might regard as risky, even reckless, adventures outside their areas of expertise.
The latest company seeking to get some dirt under its nails is LeTV, the online video portal in Beijing. Having already expanded into a conglomerate involved in not only filmmaking but also television manufacturing and wine trading, the company recently leased a 200-hectare farm in Linfen , Shanxi .
There, it will grow organic grapes, vegetables, flowers and seedlings using what it calls ecological farming methods. It also bought a cluster of villas to develop an "ecological manor".
Li Rui , the CEO of Beijing Wangjiu Electronic Commerce - the LeTV subsidiary that is managing the project - said the company saw opportunities amid concerns about food quality and safety, and the lack of trustworthy domestic brands.