Opportunities and Challenges of Agriculture "Going Out"

The theme I want to talk about at this year's annual meeting is that China's agriculture should "go out". Why should China's agriculture "go out"? Let's start with the reason. As we all know, China's agriculture has been growing for more than a decade, and all of you here do not feel that there will be a food problem in our country. However, what we have not noticed is that suddenly foreign grain has entered China on a large scale, and the Chinese nation has never imported so much grain in the history of the Chinese nation. In 2012, while China's grain output exceeded 1.1 trillion jin, China imported more than 2 million tons of rice, more than 3 million tons of wheat, more than 4 million tons of corn, more than 4 million tons of cotton and 58 million tons of soybeans, and a total of 80.25 million tons of grain. By 2013, imports of pork and beef were on the rise, and there were more than one million tons of milk powder, not counting the milk powder bought by tourists traveling abroad. By last year, China imported 100 million tons of grain.

If you ask why, first of all, many people will say that there is not enough food to eat. Indeed, China has 245000 mu of arable land, but it has to feed more than 1.3 billion people, and the cultivated land is stretched. At present, the amount of grain imported every year is equivalent to that grown by foreigners on 700 million mu of land for the Chinese people to eat. Second, we have grain in the warehouse but we can't sell it. The reason is that the imported grain is actually cheaper than the grain produced in China. The main reason is the shortage of rural labor, the rural population is mainly the elderly, women and children, labor productivity is very low, but labor prices have been rising. In this way, the pressure on a country will become greater and greater.

Based on this point, I think our agriculture must "go out". China has so many well-capitalized entrepreneurs, the country has sufficient foreign exchange reserves, and now Chinese enterprises go out for financial investment, but I think our country has a very good historical opportunity in "going out" in agriculture, which should be firmly seized. I did a series of research. I went to Cambodia and found that the land on both sides of the Mekong River was flat and fertile, suitable for large-scale operation, and the output was very high. And Cambodian labor is very cheap. I was working in Guangxi at that time. I seized this opportunity and led the enterprise to build a starch factory in Cambodia. The benefit was very good, and it could be said to be a very cost-effective investment.

Since then, I have done a series of in-depth investigations and studies. Apart from Cambodia, the most suitable country for China's agriculture to go out is Russia. Russia and Heilongjiang border, the land on this border is very fertile and the area is very large, it can be said to be thousands of miles of fertile fields, which is very suitable for mechanized farming and large-scale operation. The second country is Brazil, the cost of land is very low, a mu of land is dozens of yuan. The third place is Africa. Africa is rich in agricultural resources and has a lot of room for development. To develop agriculture in Africa is a friendly cause, and the cooperative relations between the two sides will be very harmonious.

Finally, talk about the difficulties in "going out" in agriculture and the problems that should be solved, and the policies and measures that should be taken from the government's point of view.

The first problem is that entrepreneurs are willing to "go out", but do not understand the national conditions, policies and customs of the target country. For example, when I went to Cambodia, Cambodian officials said it was okay to invest in me, and the more land I bought, the better, because the land was empty and unused. When Chinese enterprises developed, they found that Chinese farmers were not allowed to work in the past, because Cambodia had to ensure the employment of local farmers. I pay once a month in China, but not in Cambodia. I have to pay once a week. This is the difference in national conditions. Russia, Brazil, Africa and other countries and regions have a series of legal and policy restrictions. Therefore, I hope that the relevant state departments, especially embassies and consulates abroad, can provide sufficient information and policy support to domestic enterprises.

The second problem is money. Foreign agriculture is a large-scale operation, the land area is very large, the cost of manpower and material resources is very high. Therefore, I hope that domestic banks can introduce preferential policies to provide loans, mortgage guarantees and other support measures for agricultural enterprises that go abroad.

The third problem is insurance. When foreign enterprises cultivate land, in case of natural disasters, there are insurance companies to settle claims to reduce the losses of agricultural enterprises. However, China's insurance companies, especially foreign-related agricultural insurance business, have not been able to keep up with the demand.

The last problem is the lack of corresponding foreign-related agricultural talent reserve. "going out" has higher requirements for talents. in addition to the qualities that ordinary enterprise managers should possess, they should master foreign languages and understand international rules and practices. In particular, they should be familiar with the industrial policies, tax policies, market potential, labor quality, customs and habits of the investment target countries related to business projects.

I believe that if we can keep up with the above four aspects, a large number of enterprises and talents in China will go out to work in agriculture.