China decided not to follow the growing trend of investing in overseas farmland to outsource food production. According to Niu Den, deputy agriculture minister, outsourcing food production to Africa is not an option for China. While countries like South Korea and Saudi Arabia recently accelerated outsourcing of their food production particularly to Africa, China will continue to depend on its own soil to maintain self-sufficiency in grain.
Chinese companies increasingly are falling victim to trademark pirates. Companies targeted include international heavyweights such as Bank of China, China Investment Corporation, China Minmetals and the Nasdaq-listed internet portal Sohu. Cases abound in which Chinese individuals registered Chinese companies’ trademarks in a given country before the original owner of the trademark expanded in that country. Upon market entry, the original trademark owner then faces severe challenges including legal disputes, as well as damaged customer and supplier relations.
Using corn and rapeseed for bioenergy production is not an option for China, according to an agricultural legislator. High domestic demand due to changing consumption patterns, as well as an expansion of the processing industry are already raising crop consumption. Hence, China decided against following the U.S. and EU bioenergy production path with corn and rapeseed as traditional raw materials. Instead, domestic bioenergy production will focus more on non-grain raw materials such as wheat or rice stalks,a heretofore largely unused byproduct of grain production.
A new estimate of the number of migrant workers who have lost their jobs due to China’s economic slowdown raised a previous government estimate by as much as 50 percent. According to the new report by Cheng Guochiang, deputy head of the Chinese State Council’s Development & Research Center, about 30 million farmers have lost their jobs in China’s cities. The higher estimate will increase pressure on Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who identified creating jobs and ensuring growth as China’s biggest tasks this year.