https://www.scmp.com/rss/15935/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Much has been made in recent months of China's mountains of moulding grain. This is down to an outmoded state system of prioritising continuous increases in grain yields - a system which has done much to increase the quantity of Chinese grain output at the expense of quality. A consecutive annual increase in yields has become a mantra and a raison d'être of Beijing's agricultural policy, but it belongs more to a Soviet-style planned production than to the modern, efficient agricultural system... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1854056/chinas-unhealthy-obsession-grain-yields?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1854056/chinas-unhealthy-obsession-grain-yields?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 31 Aug 2015 06:30:45 +0000 Anyone who has visited China's annual autumn farm machinery fairs in Changchun or Shenyang will have seen a bewildering array of machines and brands. But the exhibition features hundreds of brands selling farm machinery of similar specifications - most of them low-tech solutions for a country seeking to modernise its farming sector. Tractors have proliferated in recent years because China's agricultural ministry and central government are bent on increasing the rate of mechanisation of the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1826730/china-encouraging-wrong-kind-farm-mechanisation-its-generous?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1826730/china-encouraging-wrong-kind-farm-mechanisation-its-generous?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Jun 2015 03:00:21 +0000 Ambitious fish farming plans will increase seafood production significantly in western European nations like Ireland, Scotland and Norway. But the expansion is not because locals are eating more fish. Rather, it's to meet rising Chinese demand for high-end species that Ireland, Norway and Scotland are all seeking to expand salmon farms off their coasts. French companies, meanwhile, are seeking licences to breed oysters on Ireland's Atlantic coastline to meet demand in China. Rising incomes have... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1773369/chinas-growing-appetite-luxury-seafood-will-push-prices?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1773369/chinas-growing-appetite-luxury-seafood-will-push-prices?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Apr 2015 06:08:39 +0000 There has been much coverage lately on the diverging fates of two banks focused on China's rural population. China Postal Savings Bank announced it will seek to raise up to US$25 billion in an initial public offering next year. Meanwhile, China Commercial Credit was last week handed a delisting notice from the Nasdaq exchange. Both institutions have focused on an underserved market: China's huge rural areas where farmers and thriving rural horticultural and agro-processing operators seek cash to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1728337/lack-clear-land-rights-holding-back-development-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1728337/lack-clear-land-rights-holding-back-development-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Mar 2015 04:18:44 +0000 Judging by the circulars emanating from the agriculture ministry in Beijing, the term "solar-integrated farming" has become a priority among agricultural officials. Taking the lead from other places like Australia, Israel and Japan, they want to use the expansion of solar power to subsidise the modernisation of Chinese agriculture and its massive aquaculture sector. China needs to add an estimated 1,000 gigawatts of carbon-neutral energy capacity, such as solar power, to meet its commitment to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1693178/how-farmers-can-help-grow-chinas-solar-power?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1693178/how-farmers-can-help-grow-chinas-solar-power?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Jan 2015 06:00:00 +0000 Following the controversy over admissions by a major Chinese-operated tuna fishing company, seeking to list in Hong Kong, that it breached quotas for the most vulnerable species in the Pacific Ocean, there has been a rush of other fishing companies seeking certification to prove they're sustainable. Sustainability came under the spotlight in October when, in a draft prospectus for its planned US$100 million initial public offering, the Dalian-based China Tuna Industry Group suggested it has been... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1653941/consumer-pressure-can-put-chinese-fisheries-more-sustainable?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1653941/consumer-pressure-can-put-chinese-fisheries-more-sustainable?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Dec 2014 08:59:31 +0000 Anyone who visits supermarkets and restaurants in Beijing or Shanghai will have noticed the increased internationalisation of China's seafood tastes and supplies. Consumers can now choose from Argentinian red shrimp, cod steaks from the North Atlantic, ribbonfish from the Indian Ocean - all caught, packaged and distributed by companies like China National Fisheries Corp and Shanghai Fisheries General Corp (Group). Chinese seafood companies like the Beijing Four Seas Flourishing Fish Co, which... https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/1579218/chinese-demand-changing-terms-global-competition-seafood?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/1579218/chinese-demand-changing-terms-global-competition-seafood?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Aug 2014 08:30:15 +0000 The decision by Kyrgyzstan to close a small but significant US military post in the Central Asian republic has been portrayed as a classic cold war chess move, with Russia squeezing the Americans out of its traditional backyard. But China's role, albeit indirect, has also been critical in bringing about the closure of the Manas base, which will deprive the American military of a vital supply line to its forces in Afghanistan. It is linked to China's continued emergence as a power broker, and... https://www.scmp.com/article/672921/chinas-power-play?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/672921/chinas-power-play?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:00:00 +0000