Down on the farm in the People’s Republic of China

It seems that wealthy Chinese have been listening to investment guru Jim Rogers and they are making investments into the farming industry.  

Down on the farm in the People’s Republic of China

One of the many examples of this is Ding Lei the CEO of Netease a leading Chinese internet company, Mr. Lei got into the pig farming this March with the launch of his pig farm in Zhejiang province.  

Chinese corporations are also diversifying into agriculture, Chen Shaopeng the former senior Vice President of Lenovo, was appointed to Lenovo Holdings, (the parent company of Lenovo) the Vice President of Agricultural Business Development. Lenovo Holdings has previously made investments in a Jiangsu province poultry farm and two investments into the liquor industry, buying firms in Hebei and Hunan provinces.  

It seems that not only the Chinese see the opportunity in farming in China.

US-based Blackstone Group led a 600 million US Dollar investment in a logistics park for agriculture products in Shouguang, Shandong province.

 These agricultural investments haven’t been limited too domestic investments, in the last year we have scene many investments by SOEs into Brazil, Kazakhstan, and other nations to satisfy the need for food in China. 

There are some who think it is a risky investment, Shao Nan, a co-director at Olympus Capital Holdings told China Business News agribusiness in China is too closely linked to government policies and that the businesses have to act in accordance with the government’s will.

But I believe that with the need for a safer and more sophisticated food supply, I am sure we will see more investments in the industry over the next few years.