With an eye toward higher rural income and farm productivity, China issued a policy statement calling for a modernized farm sector by 2035. The document was released shortly after China announced an investigation into whether U.S. sorghum is being sold at unfairly low prices on the Chinese market.
“The document called for significant progress in rural rejuvenation by 2020, agricultural modernization by 2035, and a ‘strong agriculture sector and full realization of farmers’ wealth’ by 2050,” reported Reuters. China has the largest ag sector in the world, but its farms are small, rely greatly on manual labor, and have low productivity rates. China has been revamping its agriculture policy over the past few years to get rid of government-owned stockpiles and to lower crop support rates. But it also wants to improve the standard of living in rural China through mechanization, the adoption of modern crops, and the development of digital agriculture, said Reuters.
Meanwhile, a government spokesman said the anti-dumping review of U.S. sorghum was “a normal individual case of trade remedy,” said the Associated Press. The United States is a top exporter of sorghum, and China is the world’s largest importer. Some analysts have suggested the dumping investigation is retaliation for U.S. tariffs on Chinese-made washing machines and solar power equipment.