Asian Agribusiness Consulting

Minister Han Changfu meets Egyptian Deputy Speaker

At the invitation of the Egyptian side, Minister Han Changfu met with Mr. Mahmoud El-Sharif, Deputy Speaker of the Egyptian House of Representatives, during his visit to Egypt on the afternoon of 27 April 2017. The two sides exchanged views on strengthening bilateral agricultural cooperation. Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Mr. Song Aiguo attended the meeting.

 Minister Han noted that China and Egypt are both ancient agricultural civilizations, sharing great similarity and complementarity in agricultural development. The two sides should improve cooperation mechanism, maintain candid communication and expand common ground to achieve mutual benefits and win-win outcomes. Minister Han suggested that both sides enhance cooperation in areas of improvement and breeding of main crops, joint development of animal vaccines, dry farming and water-saving technology, protected agriculture, agricultural machinery, personnel training, as well as agricultural trade and investment. China hoped the Egyptian side could provide favorable policies and create an enabling environment to facilitate Chinese investments in Egypt.

 Mr. El-Sharif expressed his appreciation and welcome to Minister Han and said that China, a great agricultural country, has made remarkable achievements in agricultural development over the past decades. Egypt hopes to draw experience from China to energize its agriculture. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and the Egyptian society highly value cooperation with China. While implementing the 1.5 Million Feddan Project for land reclamation, Egypt earnestly anticipates that China could strengthen cooperation with Egypt and other countries along the Belt and Road to promote common agricultural development. The Egyptian Parliament is willing to extend stronger support and assistance to China-Egypt cooperation.

 During the stay, Minister Han visited Chinese enterprises in Egypt and family farms in the irrigated area of the Nile River.

Source:MOA Information Office Date: 2017-05-04

Xinjiang rural labor forces to receive skill training

From this year onwards, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region is to carry out skill training for the rural labor forces, in order to tackle the shortage of skilled workers.

 With focus on skill cultivation and upgrading, the annual training will comprise of 300,000 people, while the project is valued at 1.5 trillion yuan ($217.9 billion).

 According to the government paper issued on April 14, Xinjiang natives are to account for over 70 percent of the total employed people for the project, including 40 to 50 percent coming from poverty-stricken families. The construction companies will have the native people undertake 90 percent of the unskilled work.

 By 2020, the end of the 13th five-year plan, the government plans to provide training for over 1.2 million people. The rural labor personnel who are seeking job for the first time, or those who have no experience or formal training, need to go through a complete set of personnel training in terms of the national commonly-used language, discipline, physical capabilities, as well as general and professional skills.

 "The plan will help to take the residents out of poverty by teaching them to 'fish' while solving the labor shortage”, said Yu Huan, deputy secretary general of the autonomous regional government.

 Yu also stressed that the institutes are supposed to bear the responsibilities to ensure the qualifications of each trainee for the job upon the finishing of their training.

DATE:2017-05-03      SOURCE:China Daily

Xinjiang

From this year onwards, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region is to carry out skill training for the rural labor forces, in order to tackle the shortage of skilled workers.

 With focus on skill cultivation and upgrading, the annual training will comprise of 300,000 people, while the project is valued at 1.5 trillion yuan ($217.9 billion).

 According to the government paper issued on April 14, Xinjiang natives are to account for over 70 percent of the total employed people for the project, including 40 to 50 percent coming from poverty-stricken families. The construction companies will have the native people undertake 90 percent of the unskilled work.

 By 2020, the end of the 13th five-year plan, the government plans to provide training for over 1.2 million people. The rural labor personnel who are seeking job for the first time, or those who have no experience or formal training, need to go through a complete set of personnel training in terms of the national commonly-used language, discipline, physical capabilities, as well as general and professional skills.

 "The plan will help to take the residents out of poverty by teaching them to 'fish' while solving the labor shortage”, said Yu Huan, deputy secretary general of the autonomous regional government.

 Yu also stressed that the institutes are supposed to bear the responsibilities to ensure the qualifications of each trainee for the job upon the finishing of their training.

DATE:2017-05-03      SOURCE:China Daily

2nd Meeting of China-Philippines JCF held in Manila

The Second Meeting of the China-Philippines Joint Committee on Fisheries (JCF) was convened in Manila, the Philippines on April 26, 2017.

 The Chinese delegation, composed of representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Chinese Embassy to the Philippines, research institutes and local governments and enterprises, attended the meeting and held talks with the Philippine delegation which consisted of officials from the Philippine Department of Agriculture and the Department of Foreign Affairs, as well as the Philippine Embassy to China.

 The two sides exchanged views on respective priorities and governance policies in domestic fisheries development, discussed the key areas, basic principles and government measures for bilateral fisheries cooperation, and conducted friendly consultations on the proposed 2017-2019 JCF cooperation programs.

 The two sides reached a preliminary consensus on carrying out technical training and exchange activities, facilitating business cooperation, bolstering mariculture and strengthening aquatic product processing, among other things.

 The Chinese side noted that both China and the Philippines are major fisheries countries in the world while China is also a major consumer of aquatic products.

 The fishing industry is important for both countries and plays a critical role in promoting the employment and income growth of fishermen, and boosting rural economy and social development.

 China has attached great importance to the fisheries cooperation with the Philippines, hoping to advance pragmatic collaboration on the basis of mutual benefits and equality.

 The Philippine side briefed on its priorities and key measures for domestic fisheries development, and asked China for germplasm transfer of four freshwater species, and assistance in technical capacity building on five subjects.

 China introduced its fisheries development across the country, the planned layout of fishing industry during the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan period, and the overall consideration for bilateral cooperation.

 In response to the requests of the Philippine side, China put forward a draft MOU on China-Philippines Cooperation of Fisheries Technical Training and Exchange, and pledged to donate 100,000 Leopard Coral Grouper (Plectropomus spp.) seeds to the Philippines annually from 2017 to 2019.

 The Philippine delegation extended appreciation for that and the two sides also discussed five business-to-business initiatives including the deep-sea breeding and aquatic processing in Davao, fingerling breeding and deep-sea cage culture in Palawan, tilapia development in Zambales, and so on.

 The Philippine side expressed support for the above initiatives and pledged to enhance coordination and address concerns of businesses.

 After the meeting, the two sides signed the Minutes of the 2nd JCF meeting, and the Chinese delegation witnessed the signing of the cooperation agreements between fisheries enterprises.

 The meeting was held in line with the MOU on fisheries cooperation between the two ministries signed in Beijing in September 2004, marking the resumption of the JCF since its 1st meeting in Manila in 2005.

 The meeting also decided that the next JCF meeting is scheduled in China in 2018

 SOURCE:MOA Information Office DATE:2017-05-03

Trump nominee for China ambassador pledges to 'positively influence' US-China relationship

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump's pick for Ambassador to China, Terry Branstad, said on Tuesday that if confirmed, he would work to "positively influence" the US-China relationship.

"As Governor of Iowa, I saw first-hand the importance of a positive and healthy trade relationship between our two countries," Branstad said here at his confirmation hearing.

If confirmed, he hoped to work towards the goal of positively influencing the US-China relationship, he added.

As the governor of a US state whose economy is mainly driven by agriculture industry, Branstad noted that almost one out of every two rows of Iowa soybeans is sent to China, as well as 33.5 million US dollars in pork in 2016.

However, the importance of trade between the United States and China extends well beyond agriculture, he said.

"Aviation products, manufactured goods, chemicals, electronics, and many other products and services are exported to China daily and help support and sustain the American economy," he told US lawmakers.

Calling US-China relationship "multi-faceted," Branstad also noted that the two countries must work together on major security issues, including the denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and cybersecurity.

Branstad also said that he looked forward to "connecting with the Chinese people and continuing a vibrant exchange of culture and ideas."

Branstad, 70, is the longest-serving governor in the United States, who also has long nurtured a close relationship with China and has visited China multiple times.

He served as the governor of Iowa in 1983-1999, and again since 2011. He was nominated by Trump to be the next US ambassador to China in December 2016.

Source: Xinhua Date: 2017-05-03

Military tech may aid shoppers to spot food tampered with

Military technology could soon enable civilians to spot when food has been tampered with, researchers in Tianjin said on Wednesday.

Spectral imaging technology, in an experiment, displayed fake green leaves in blue on the screen and normal ones in white.

The developer of the technology－Tianjin Jinhang Research Institute of Technical Physics which is affiliated to China Aerospace Science & Industry Corp－says potential applications of the technology include inspecting illegally colored oranges and inquiring about the expiry date of milk powder, jobs which are currently done by professional agencies with sophisticated methods.

"Within two years, we will put the spectral imaging function in smartphones at a cost below 100 yuan ($14.53)," said Liu Shuyang, leader of the spectrum analysis group at the institute.

The images will be captured by a standard camera on the phone and a large set of information will be processed by a special chip.

The spectral imaging technique has already been used in environmental monitoring, agriculture and medicine identification.

"I always check the production date by scanning the barcode, but I still have concerns. This technology may make my life more convenient," said Wang Shulan, a 60-year-old woman shopper.

The technology could create a market worth around 100 billion yuan, said Wang Yanping, a professor at the College of Food Engineering and Biotechnology of Tianjin University of Science & Technology.

Zhang Jian, Party chief of the research institute, said that the integration of civilian and military technology, which is a national strategy, has experienced ups and downs, but has been progressing well in recent years.

"It is very painful process for us to shift the way of thinking from the military side to the market side, so we are looking forward to cooperating with more enterprises," said Zhang.

The total output value of the institute stood at 1.5 billion yuan last year.

China Daily Updated: 2017-05-02

Fishing Ban imposed earlier this year

An annual fishing ban was introduced nationwide on Monday, weeks earlier than previous years for some regions, with the aim of better protecting fisheries and the environment.In the past, the off-season began on a staggered schedule - different days for different areas - with a June 1 deadline. It was moved up mainly because the spawning season of most fish has begun earlier, owing to the decay of fishery resources and global warming, said Zhang Xianliang, director of the Ministry of Agriculture's Bureau of Fisheries.

Zhang was speaking at the launch of a national campaign to crack down on fishing violators on Monday in Xiangshan county of Ningbo, Zhejiang province.

"A prolonged off-season will give the ocean more time to recover," he said.

If the fishing off-season had not been changed to an earlier date, a large number of the newborn fish would be caught by fishermen before the usual moratorium started, and that would harm the fishery, said Zhang Shengrong, deputy director of Xiangshan county's Ocean and Fishery Bureau.

"Moreover, if the fishing ban began on different days in different areas, it would leave a loophole for illegal fishing across different fishing regions," he said.

The minimum duration of the fishing off-season in China, the world's largest country in terms of fish catch, and with the most fishing vessels and fishermen, will last three months this year. Fishing will be resumed in different regions depending on how the fry grow. For example, it will be resumed in the East China Sea on Aug 1 and in the Yellow Sea on Sept 1.

For the first time, auxiliary vessels, which transport the catches and provide support for the fishing vessels, must obey the off-season as well to prevent covert fishing.

Zhang said all the vessels registered in Xiangshan had returned to port as required by Monday morning and all the fishermen had gone ashore and handed over their fishing nets.

"Only those vessels specializing in the research of aquatic resources are allowed to set off during the season," he said.

Source: China Daily

Belt and Road Forum a historic test

Beijing will host the first Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in less than two weeks. Following are the views of four scholars on its global importance:

Opportunities for us to work together

Ruan Zongze, deputy director of China Institute of International Studies

The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, has become the most promising platform for international cooperation. The initiative, comprising the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, has drawn a growing number of participants thanks to its global influence. More than 100 countries and international organizations support the initiative, while over 40 have signed cooperation agreements with China.

The initiative has added fresh impetus to China and the rest of the world to promote globalization and build a "community of shared destiny of humankind", which UN Security Council Resolution 2344 of March 17 referred to while calling for regional economic cooperation to promote sustainable growth in Afghanistan. The reference to a community of shared destiny of humankind in the resolution reflects the extent of China's contribution to global governance.

The UN reference was followed by New Zealand signing a memorandum of understanding on cooperation with China on March 31, indicating that more developed countries could join the Belt and Road Initiative.

Moreover, the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank already has 70 members, more than both the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development and the Asian Development Bank. The AIIB, in fact, is the world's largest multilateral development organization after the World Bank, and has five of the G7 countries as members.

Still, some scholars in the United States doubt the intention of China's initiative, suggesting it is part of Beijing's plan to widen its influence in Eurasia and challenge Washington's global leadership. A few US scholars have even labeled it the Marshall Plan of China, and adopted a wait-and-watch approach, while others oppose it simply because it was proposed by China. By doing so, they are only preventing US enterprises from benefiting from the initiative.

The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation scheduled for May 14-15 will provide a platform for the participants to share their views about the future development of the initiative. In other words, although launched by China, the initiative can bring great benefits for all the participating countries. And it can help Washington and Beijing to work together in fields such as infrastructure construction in the US, and take measures to boost free trade in the Asia-Pacific region. Besides, the initiative can also help deepen Sino-US bilateral cooperation, and promote peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific.

Constructive alternative to gathering dark clouds

Martin Sieff, a senior fellow at the Global Policy Institute in Washington

Four years after its formal launch in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative continues to quietly generate momentum as one of the most important geostrategic developments of the new millennium.

Over the past 40 years, China has developed the greatest concentration of industrial and manufacturing capability, raising the overall standard of living of its people, while also helping boost the neighboring economies, which are among the greatest achievements of the human race.

And owing to its investments and still rapidly growing market for energy, food staples and raw materials, China has become the greatest economic engine powering the major economies of Africa as well.

But why is the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing so important for China? Does it mean China will further promote globalization and regional cooperation? And how should China try to seek more chances of cooperation with other countries?

The Belt and Road Initiative is vital to promoting peace and stability in two crucial regions of the world－Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Central Asia's most visionary leaders, President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, President Almazbek Atambayev of Kyrgyzstan and President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow of Turkmenistan, have grasped the enormous value of transforming the region, long neglected as peripheral, into a central artery of world communication and commerce, because it will bring great benefits to their peoples.

The initiative offers the prospect of fulfilling through peace, rising living standards and improved international cooperation and understanding the goal of making the heartland of the "world island"－the combined continents of Asia, Europe and Africa－the communications heartland, or nerve center of the world.

That is why the forum in Beijing is so important. It offers the peoples of the "world island" a constructive alternative to the sinister gathering clouds of religious fanaticism, usually generated by poverty, fear and chaos, or the advance of menacing military alliances to threaten the national sovereignty of great nations.

Can help fulfill the dream of a shared destiny

Khalid Rahman, director general of the Institute of Policy Studies, Islamabad

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, as a "flagship project", is one of most crucial parts of China's Belt and Road Initiative, which has both economic and geopolitical goals. The impact of the Belt and Road Initiative can be gauged from the fact that once completed it will include more than 60 countries, more than half of global GDP, three-fourths of global energy reserves and more than 65 percent of the world population.

Due to its very substantial geographical location, the CPEC will serve as a primary facilitator in achieving the goal of global connectedness. On a regional level, it will gradually act as the center of economic activities with plans turning into progress. It will not only benefit Pakistan's economy by creating more than 700,000 jobs in the country and adding 2-2.5 percent to its GDP; its larger impact will be evident for regional neighbors as well.

There is good potential to link the CPEC with regional countries. The current focus is on its expansion toward the West: Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asia. Its expansion toward the East may take some time as India has occasionally expressed reservations against it, mainly on technical grounds. Yet as things are progressing, the chances that the CPEC could play a catalyst's role in even bringing the two countries closer are very much there.

Russia has vital interests in this region as well, as an active partner of both China and Pakistan. The Karachi-Lahore gas pipeline worth $1.7 billion has been pledged by Russia. And Russia, China and Pakistan have decided to work together to restore peace in Afghanistan.

Realizing the importance of the CPEC for Central Asia and Russia, their leaderships have shown greater interest in developing more cordial and cooperative economic and geostrategic relations with Pakistan in areas such as trade, energy sharing and tourism. Keeping in view China's economic and geostrategic interest in Central Asia and Russia, it is a vital development. The increased economic cooperation between Pakistan and Central Asia and Russia will also strengthen Pakistan's role in regional organizations such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Iran, too, has been playing a very significant role in regional cooperation through the CPEC, and it is significant that Chabahar and Gwadar ports, once portrayed as competitors, have now been declared as sister ports. Given the changing scenarios, the Iranian leadership hinted that China, Pakistan, Iran and Russia should cooperate more for regional stability. And China-Russia-Iran-Pakistan cooperation is being discussed in this context.

Given these scenarios of regional connectivity, there is a definite chance the CPEC will sow the seeds of more comprehensive regional connectivity and fulfill the dream of shared destiny.

Drift toward geopolitics can be counterproductive

Swaran Singh, a professor at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Right from the beginning, the Belt and Road Initiative has been the subject of extreme interpretations, which either border on sloganeering by one camp which belches out unacceptable ridicule or the other side that churns out slavish eulogies. The biggest challenge for the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, therefore, lies in providing much needed clarity on not just the Belt and Road "paradigm" but also on its current outline and its tools and tactics.

Addressing skeptics remains the most formidable task for building Belt and Road "partnerships" based, not on short-term development needs, but on enduring commitments arising out of mutual trust and mutual benefit. Being in the lead in unfolding this historic metamorphosis, the onus lies with China's leaders to show that the Belt and Road Initiative's goal is beyond a knee-jerk reflex driven by compulsions to invest China's excessive foreign exchange reserves.

For the Belt and Road Initiative to succeed in re-writing history, Beijing must first convince all the major players so that the opportunity to herald outside-the-box strategies is not allowed to become hostage to 20th century obsessions with geopolitics. The Belt and Road juggernaut seems unstoppable now; so by restricting it to loyal followers alone may dwarf its possibilities.

Especially, in the context of US President Donald Trump's whimsical twists and turns casting doubts on Washington's leadership to address global threats, several countries have become skeptical about China's ambitions, because they assume the initiative is solidly backed by its financial and technological capacities for implementing hundreds of projects. And though there is no dearth of takers of such benefits, it will be myopic to privilege quantity over quality.

India is not the only country to follow this wait-and-watch policy.

As international relations shift from inter-state to inter-societal channels thanks to the advancement of information technology, the old-fashioned focus on demarcated borders and military alliances emphasizing "divisions" are fast giving way to logistics of "connectivity".

The Indian prime minister's emphasis on highways and information technology expressways, and culture, commerce and connectivity shows that the Indian leadership is aware of such shifts. This is not to say the hangover of geopolitics no longer colors the Indian leadership's visions about the Belt and Road economic corridors. In their ideal state, instead of being tools of territorial domination, the corridors constitute multi-model, multi-nodal "processes" grounded in the framework of multiple ownership and multiple beneficiaries.

It is thus for Beijing to ensure these economic corridors are seen as "channels" that seek to connect economic agencies to various hubs and nodes that are ordained with concentrated presence of economic actors and resources. Only if all the stakeholders begin to see the Belt and Road Initiative in this pure form of geo-economics can it become their path to prosperity and peace.

Any actual or perceived drift toward geopolitics will not just be futile but counterproductive.

Source: China Daily Updated: 2017-05-02

Vice premier urges improved rural credit guarantee system

BEIJING, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang called for a better rural credit guarantee system to direct more loans into the money-starved rural economy.

 Establishing a government-backed system is significant to boosting efficiency of support policies for rural areas and carrying out the agricultural supply-side structural reform, Wang said during a meeting on Friday.

 To help farmers secure loans, efforts should be made to build more guarantee institutions specializing in rural financing and create new business models, according to Wang.

 Chinese farmers and agri-businesses have been facing difficulties in borrowing money from banks partly due to the lack of high-quality collateral, and the government is encouraging pilots in rural credit guarantees to solve the problem.

 Wang urged more cooperation by governments, banks and guarantee institutions.

 Outstanding agriculture-related loans in China stood at 29.23 trillion yuan (4.24 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of the first quarter this year, up 8.9 percent year on year, according to the central bank.

 The growth was 1.8 percentage points higher than the level a quarter ago.

DATE:2017-05-02      Source: Xinhua News Agency

China cuts taxes further, pesticide VAT reduced to 11%

On April 19, an executive meeting of the State Council was held and presided over by Premier Li Keqiang, where a decision was made to adopt further tax reduction measures to cut costs and promote growth in the real economy.  

At the meeting, as a follow up to the Yuan200 billion tax reduction measures put in place in the first quarter of the year, the additional measures that were decided upon are as following:

 Beginning from July 1 this year, VAT (Value-Added Tax) rate brackets will be reduced from 4 to 3, pegged respectively at 17 percent, 11 percent and 6 percent, while the bracket of 13 percent has been cancelled. It is expected that this initiative will effect a further tax reduction of over Yuan380 billion in favor of all market players and promote growth in the real economy.

 According to provisions of Item 2 of Article 4 of the Provisional Regulations of the People‘s Republic of China on VAT issued under ref GWY-538, tax payers are subject to a 13 percent tax upon import or sales of the following goods. This means that VAT for natural gas, pesticides, fertilizers and farm machinery will be brought down to 11 percent now with the cancellation of a 13 percent tax.

Source:        AgroPages.com