This document discusses China's global land investments and agricultural engagement in Africa. It notes that China's agricultural investments in Africa from 1960-1980s involved large state-owned farms operated entirely by China to produce for the host country. However, maintaining large state-owned farms proved inefficient, forcing a change in strategy. China's strategy in the 1990s became more business oriented, integrating aid with Chinese enterprises. Today, China's agricultural engagement in Africa involves technical cooperation centers, hundreds of small-medium scale farms operated by Chinese workers, and preferential loans and grants with a business-driven, non-interventionist, mutually beneficial model. However, some view China's land investments as "land grabs" while others see development opportunities, with

1. China’s global land investments
SIANI expert group
1st meeting
18 October 2011

2. Post-it questions
1. Which agricultural commodities account for
China’s biggest import from Africa?
2. What factors determine China’s (agricultural)
investments in African countries, and
elsewhere?
3. What’s the biggest threat/risk of China’s
global land-investments?
4. What’s the biggest opportunity of Chinese
investments in Africa?

3. “Land-deals must be assessed in the light of the
often complex overall package they are a part
of… the land-grab emphasised by some media
is only part of the equation.”
Land grab or development opportunity? Agricultural investment
and international land deals in Africa,
FAO 2009, p. 101

4. China’s land-investments and
agricultural engagement in Africa
1. Drivers of China’s engagement
2. The extent and type of Chinese
engagement in Africa
3. Zooming in on agriculture

11. Preferential loans and grants
Non-intervention
Mutual benefit
Business driven
development model

14. Agriculture largely about aid
• 1960-1980s:
– Large, state-owned farms
– Entirely Chinese operated, production for host
country
• 1985: farms in 25 African countries
• 35 world wide, 48,000 hectares of farmland.
• But, competitiveness and difficulty of keeping large-
state owned farm efficient forced change of strategy

15. Go global strategy
• 1990s: more ‘business oriented’
• Overseas engagement enable development at
home and abroad
• Integrate aid and Chinese enterprises
– Chinese companies involved in leadership roles of
former aid projects.
– Tools for Chinese business engagement in Africa

17. Today, various types of Chinese
engagement
• Technical cooperation centres
• 100s of small and medium scale farms
• One million Chinese agricultural workers on
African continent
• Farms produce almost exclusively for local
sales
• Or, sell exclusive goods to international market

18. The great Chinese global land grab
“The Great Chinese land-grab is on.”
(Asian Times, July 2010)
“Fears of Chinese land grab as Beijing's billions buy up
resources”
(Independent, June 2009)
”The food rush: Rising demand in China and west sparks
African land grab.”
(Guardian, June 2008)

19. “Extensive farmland for soybean production in Brazil”
(Financial Times)
Chinese business man aquires 10,000 ha for rice
production in Cameroon (TF1, French TV)
Chinese government has invested extensively in
infrastructure in Mozambique to farm rice (Loro Horta,
son of East Timor’s President)
Blackgrain has invested “several hundred million USD” in
farmland South of the Sahara (Chinese Economic Observer)

21. Dilemmas on many levels
• Agricultural aid possible?
• Can Chinese land-related activities be
perceived as anything other than exploitative?
• Is it under any circumstance OK to use foreign
land as a tool for growth?