August 2011: Behind and beyond the breathtaking ascent into becoming one of the strongest economic powers, there is still a vast agrarian China. Long before the industrialisation made headlines worldwide, it were the fundamental changes in agriculture and the rural areas at the end of the 1970s which prepared the ground for it. Today, China can not only feed its 1.3 billion people, but agricultural exports and investments of Chinese agro-companies abroad are growing too. This publication aims to highlight these widely unknown successes in China's agricultural development, but also the problems therein as well as any consquences it might have: "Agriculture in China: Between self-sufficiency and global integration", published by Asienstiftung / German Asia Foundation in cooperation with "EU-China: Civil Society Forum". One peculiar focal point is the role of civil society organisations, farmers' associations and consumer and environment groups. Download (pdf-file 3.6 MB). Also available in German: Mehr

December 2010: In spite of a growing demand and proving skeptics like Lester Brown wrong, China can still feed itself. But commodities like cotton or feed like soybeans have to be imported to supply the industry. This not only drives up the prices in the world markets but also Chinese investors into neighbouring countries in the region, to Africa and even to Latin America. At the same time, for exporters like the European Union, the Chinese market becomes more attractive. Download (pdf 291 kb))

Livestock industry expands, and so do multinationals

by Uwe Hoering and Susanne Gura, June 2010

German milk is considered to be of 'high quality' and 'safe', different from milk polluted with melamine in China for example. Therefore Gerd Müller is confident, that „there are tremendous opportunities for milk, butter and other animal products from Germany“. The Ministry for Agriculture’s Secretary of State is not only concerned about the nutrition of the German consumers, but also about the well being of the Chinese – and about the German dairy industry, about breeders and manufactures. More

September 2009: Is China at the “onset of an organic revolution“, as some observers believe? Undoubtedly, the flood of food certificates creates the impression, that one third of agricultural land is already under eco-food production. And clearly, there is a growing interest in „green“ food by consumers. But not everything which claims to be „organic“ really is. An assessment of the attempts to polish the image of China's agrarian products, by Uwe Hoering. Download (pdf-file 94 kb)

September 2008: The timing has been perfect: In the middle of October, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China approved a reform proposal that will allow farmers to lease or transfer their land rights. Called a „historic“ decision by some observers, the Chinese government announced it as China's contribution to counter the financial crisis and to stabilise the global system by giving a fresh stimulus to economic growth. But the more important driving forces for it are the growing rural-urban inequalities, the widespread protests by farmers about alienation of land by officials and the need to modernise Chinese agriculture.

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