China is opening up its agriculture industry to corporate farming, a move that could have wide economic and political implications. That decision may gradually phase out collective farming, which has long been one of the Communist Party’s main political levers through a national network of provincial and county leaders.
China is hoping to entice foreign and private capital to invest in the tightly-controlled agricultural sector. State media also notes the policy aims to promote and standardize the “transfer of the right to use farmland from rural residents to commercial entities.”The plan comes after authorities announced earlier this year that they want to relocate 100 million farmers, about 12 percent of the rural population, into smaller cities. The farmland they leave behind could be bundled together into larger tracts that would be farmed by companies using more modern methods. Read more
China is hoping to entice foreign and private capital to invest in the tightly-controlled agricultural sector. State media also notes the policy aims to promote and standardize the “transfer of the right to use farmland from rural residents to commercial entities.”The plan comes after authorities announced earlier this year that they want to relocate 100 million farmers, about 12 percent of the rural population, into smaller cities. The farmland they leave behind could be bundled together into larger tracts that would be farmed by companies using more modern methods. Read more
