China Agri News Week 20, 2020

This is the news overview of week 20 from the agricultural team of the Netherlands Embassy in Beijing.

Rising food prices during pandemic add to burdens of Hong Kong’s poor

[South China Morning Post] The Consumer Price Index, a gauge of changes in prices of consumer goods and services, showed that food prices rose 1.9%in January from December last year and went up a further 0.7%in February, compared with January. The Social Welfare Department works with seven non-governmental organizations to provide short-term food assistance services for up to eight weeks at a time to those in need. The government’s budget for this purpose is HK$162.2 million for 2019-20, up by about 22% from HK$133 million for 2018-19 (source: South China Morning Post).

China People Harvest

Government Implements Newest Measure to Improve Farmers Income

China implemented the Guiding Opinions on Implementing the" Internet+ on agricultural products from village to city”. In the new plan, the central government is giving priority to 100 counties including poverty-stricken areas and advantage areas to promote efficient coordination on the industrialization of agricultural production, processing, storage, transportation, and sales. The 100 pilot projects aim to increase the sales of agricultural products and thus to increase farmer's income. The construction is scheduled to be finished at the end of 2021 (source, Chinese only: Xinhua News).

Provinces and cities have issued their Food Safety Work Plans

Last week, provinces and cities have issued their work plan regarding food safety. Most plans focus on improving food safety, including strict investigation of illegal trade in wild animals, improve campus catering safety, improve infant formula milk powder quality, and improve the regulation and trade of the online food market.

Beijing’s proposed work plan focusses on implementing strict quality inspections on the entire food production and distribution chain and strengthening government support in reaching those goals. It also elaborates on the urging large-scale enterprises to take a responsible stance in carrying out self-examination and evaluation and share information (source, Chinese only: National Food Quality Supervision and Inspection Center).

Direct Land Route Opened Between Qingdao and Southeast Asia

On May 3, the Shandong Port Group Haifeng International Holdings launched the Cold Chain Southeast Asia-Qingdao Express. Reports say that this is the first direct cold-chain route from Qingdao to Southeast Asia to transport consumer goods over land.

In the past few months, the international and domestic logistic capacity of multiple ports of refrigerated containers has been saturated. In reaction, Qingdao port took the initiative to contact shipping companies that encountered difficulties, and together with customers reset transport routes. To enhance customer experience, Qingdao made significant logistical adaptions, including improving inspection time. Reports say that from January to April this year, the inspection volume of aquatic products and fruits in Qingdao Port increased by 120% and 171% year-on-year respectively (source, Chinese only: AsiaFruit China). 

Short News:

  • The comprehensive utilization rate of livestock and poultry manure in Shanxi Province will reach more than 77% in 2020 according to the working plan for the utilization of livestock and poultry manure in Shanxi Province in 2020 (source, Chinese only: Farmers’ Daily, May 9th).
  • Statistics show that from January to February 2020, the output of liquid milk of large-scale dairy companies was 3.391 million tons, a decrease of 17.5% year-on-year. Among the 561 dairy companies in this statistical scope, 237 were loss-making companies, an increase of 110 in comparison to the year before (source, Chinese only: Nainiu Weikan).
  • Shaanxi Province and Pinduoduo launched their newest agricultural product poverty alleviation action. In 2019, the sales of agricultural products on Pinduoduo's reached 136.4 billion yuan, making it one of the largest platforms for selling and buying agricultural products (source, Chinese only: Farmers’ Daily, May 8th).