Comments for Exporting China's Development to the World http://mqvu.wordpress.com Just another WordPress.com weblog Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:53:17 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 Comment on Working Papers by New China-in-Zambia masters theses in Amsterdam « Exporting China’s Development to the World http://mqvu.wordpress.com/working-papers/#comment-171 New China-in-Zambia masters theses in Amsterdam « Exporting China’s Development to the World Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:53:17 +0000 http://mqvu.wordpress.com/?page_id=13#comment-171 [...] Working Papers   [...] [...] Working Papers   [...]

]]> Comment on Is Baoding Cun a hoax? Or a “cultural phenomenon”? by Third Tone Devil http://mqvu.wordpress.com/2009/02/05/baodingvillage/#comment-108 Third Tone Devil Wed, 27 May 2009 06:28:35 +0000 http://mqvu.wordpress.com/?p=160#comment-108 That's the thing: We don't know if the farmers are happy. Liu says he does not make money on them, but that is contradicted by clauses on the Baoding Villages website that says that each village pays a contribution to the Baoding Villages headquarters, which is run by him. In short, we need some on-the-ground research on these issues. At the moment all we have is intriguing hearsay. That’s the thing: We don’t know if the farmers are happy. Liu says he does not make money on them, but that is contradicted by clauses on the Baoding Villages website that says that each village pays a contribution to the Baoding Villages headquarters, which is run by him.

In short, we need some on-the-ground research on these issues. At the moment all we have is intriguing hearsay.

]]> Comment on Is Baoding Cun a hoax? Or a “cultural phenomenon”? by niaochao http://mqvu.wordpress.com/2009/02/05/baodingvillage/#comment-92 niaochao Wed, 20 May 2009 17:51:15 +0000 http://mqvu.wordpress.com/?p=160#comment-92 It must be damaging if this looks like colonialism (i send my farmers to Africa to lead a happy life) more than pure business, i guess. I feel like Liu Jian Jun has been trying to manipulate peasants, media and gvt... but if the peasants he sends to Africa are happy: should we criticize him? Does he really make money on peasants? It must be damaging if this looks like colonialism (i send my farmers to Africa to lead a happy life) more than pure business, i guess.

I feel like Liu Jian Jun has been trying to manipulate peasants, media and gvt… but if the peasants he sends to Africa are happy: should we criticize him? Does he really make money on peasants?

]]> Comment on Is Baoding Cun a hoax? Or a “cultural phenomenon”? by Third Tone Devil http://mqvu.wordpress.com/2009/02/05/baodingvillage/#comment-91 Third Tone Devil Wed, 20 May 2009 17:41:48 +0000 http://mqvu.wordpress.com/?p=160#comment-91 Niaochao: Liu Jianjun has written and said numerous times that he was interested in both helping poor peasants get rich overseas and to get revenues for Baoding (he used to be the head of the city's Trade Committee, after all). Plus, I bet, in expanding his own visibility and stature. He never mentioned food and resource autonomy for China. Whether he can get support from Peking is a hard question. As always, there are conflicting interests within the government. There has been some analysis about how China's agricultural enterprises have benefited relatively little from the 走出去 policy, and while they have been lobbying for more, the central government has not prioritised the acquisition of farming resources abroad. (On the contrary, in response to articles implicating China in "land grabs" overseas, it stated last year that China was not interested in leasing farmland overseas as a solution to food sustainability -- see article on this in the Bibliography on the Working papers page.) But then Liu has been acting as a broker for relatively small businesses, if any, not large agricultural enterprises, and his fall from grace in Chinese media suggests that the Baodingcun stories were deemed to be too damaging for the foreign affairs bureaucracy. Niaochao: Liu Jianjun has written and said numerous times that he was interested in both helping poor peasants get rich overseas and to get revenues for Baoding (he used to be the head of the city’s Trade Committee, after all). Plus, I bet, in expanding his own visibility and stature. He never mentioned food and resource autonomy for China.

Whether he can get support from Peking is a hard question. As always, there are conflicting interests within the government. There has been some analysis about how China’s agricultural enterprises have benefited relatively little from the 走出去 policy, and while they have been lobbying for more, the central government has not prioritised the acquisition of farming resources abroad. (On the contrary, in response to articles implicating China in “land grabs” overseas, it stated last year that China was not interested in leasing farmland overseas as a solution to food sustainability — see article on this in the Bibliography on the Working papers page.) But then Liu has been acting as a broker for relatively small businesses, if any, not large agricultural enterprises, and his fall from grace in Chinese media suggests that the Baodingcun stories were deemed to be too damaging for the foreign affairs bureaucracy.

]]> Comment on Is Baoding Cun a hoax? Or a “cultural phenomenon”? by niaochao http://mqvu.wordpress.com/2009/02/05/baodingvillage/#comment-90 niaochao Wed, 20 May 2009 17:24:15 +0000 http://mqvu.wordpress.com/?p=160#comment-90 Thank you very much Third Tone Devil Do you believe Liu Jian Jun's project is an attempt to send as many poor Henan mingong as possible to Africa (too much farmers in china) , to teach agriculture and produce food for African people or to attract chinese labour for massive industrial agriculture project in africa (green oil in Gabon or Zambia) to secure food and resource autonomy in China? Can he get support from Beijing for that ? Thank you very much Third Tone Devil

Do you believe Liu Jian Jun’s project is an attempt to send as many poor Henan mingong as possible to Africa (too much farmers in china) , to teach agriculture and produce food for African people or to attract chinese labour for massive industrial agriculture project in africa (green oil in Gabon or Zambia) to secure food and resource autonomy in China?

Can he get support from Beijing for that ?

]]> Comment on Is Baoding Cun a hoax? Or a “cultural phenomenon”? by Third Tone Devil http://mqvu.wordpress.com/2009/02/05/baodingvillage/#comment-87 Third Tone Devil Wed, 20 May 2009 10:45:35 +0000 http://mqvu.wordpress.com/?p=160#comment-87 We don't know if it's a hoax. My guess is that the hoax part is Liu Jianjun's portrayal of the whole thing as a unified project under his leadership, but that there *are* at least some real land deals. Chinese farmers going abroad to grow vegetables for local markets is not new in this recent wave of migration; it is happening in Russia, Kazakstan, Burma and Laos. (In Oudomxay, Northern Laos, all vegetables are said to come from Chinese growers, though I am sure this is an exaggeration.) The long-term concessions also fit into a pattern we have seen elsewhere (notably in Laos and Burma). Although agriculture has not been as important for these concessions as mining, there are various examples of Chinese state farms leasing land abroad. What is interesting about these supposed villages is if they are based more on individual farming. We don’t know if it’s a hoax. My guess is that the hoax part is Liu Jianjun’s portrayal of the whole thing as a unified project under his leadership, but that there *are* at least some real land deals. Chinese farmers going abroad to grow vegetables for local markets is not new in this recent wave of migration; it is happening in Russia, Kazakstan, Burma and Laos. (In Oudomxay, Northern Laos, all vegetables are said to come from Chinese growers, though I am sure this is an exaggeration.) The long-term concessions also fit into a pattern we have seen elsewhere (notably in Laos and Burma). Although agriculture has not been as important for these concessions as mining, there are various examples of Chinese state farms leasing land abroad. What is interesting about these supposed villages is if they are based more on individual farming.

]]> Comment on Is Baoding Cun a hoax? Or a “cultural phenomenon”? by niaochao http://mqvu.wordpress.com/2009/02/05/baodingvillage/#comment-85 niaochao Tue, 19 May 2009 13:45:49 +0000 http://mqvu.wordpress.com/?p=160#comment-85 Very interesting but now that we know it's an hoax... So did he actually send farmers to Africa? What are the migrant farmers doing in Africa if they are not in these baodijng villages? Very interesting but now that we know it’s an hoax…

So did he actually send farmers to Africa? What are the migrant farmers doing in Africa if they are not in these baodijng villages?

]]> Comment on New China in Africa book by New China in Africa book launch « Exporting China’s Development to the World http://mqvu.wordpress.com/2008/12/20/new-china-in-africa-book/#comment-83 New China in Africa book launch « Exporting China’s Development to the World Fri, 15 May 2009 13:04:32 +0000 http://mqvu.wordpress.com/?p=72#comment-83 [...] Washington, D.C., is hosting another, this one at the Jamestown Foundation. This China in Africa, released  last December, is edited by the respected China historian Arthur Waldron,  and the launch event features other [...] [...] Washington, D.C., is hosting another, this one at the Jamestown Foundation. This China in Africa, released  last December, is edited by the respected China historian Arthur Waldron,  and the launch event features other [...]

]]> Comment on Upcoming China-Africa events by New China in Africa book launch « Exporting China’s Development to the World http://mqvu.wordpress.com/2009/02/04/upcoming-china-africa-events/#comment-82 New China in Africa book launch « Exporting China’s Development to the World Fri, 15 May 2009 13:04:30 +0000 http://mqvu.wordpress.com/?p=151#comment-82 [...] China in Africa book launch Less than three months after the  last China-in-Africa book launch, Washington, D.C., is hosting another, this one at the Jamestown Foundation. This China in Africa, [...] [...] China in Africa book launch Less than three months after the  last China-in-Africa book launch, Washington, D.C., is hosting another, this one at the Jamestown Foundation. This China in Africa, [...]

]]> Comment on China’s Minmetals buys OZ Minerals by Third Tone Devil http://mqvu.wordpress.com/2009/02/16/chinas-minmetals-buys-oz-minerals/#comment-73 Third Tone Devil Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:19:55 +0000 http://mqvu.wordpress.com/?p=187#comment-73 Ultimately, the Australian government rejected the takeover on national security grounds: one of the mines, in Woomera, was deemed to be too close to a NATO intelligence facility. The two companies then agreed to a revised deal, under which Minmetals will buy most of Oz Minerals' mines, including the Sepon mine, but not the company itself ("Minmetals to buy OZ assets for $1.2 billion," Domain-B.com, 2 April 2009, as reported on LaoFAB). The newly appointed senior manager of the Sepon mine, Richard Taylor, affirmed that despite the takeover, the mine's social responsibility projectsw will continue. These projects are not very clear: Vientiane Times described them as "financial assitance worth US$ 500,000 to a trust fund" plus scholarships for Lao students to go to Australia. It is unclear what trust fund and over what period this contribution takes place. Taylor also said, contradicting himself, that the scholarships have been suspended because of the economic crisis (Vientiane Times, "Sepon's commitment to remain unchanged," 3 April 2009, as reported by LaoFAB). Ultimately, the Australian government rejected the takeover on national security grounds: one of the mines, in Woomera, was deemed to be too close to a NATO intelligence facility. The two companies then agreed to a revised deal, under which Minmetals will buy most of Oz Minerals’ mines, including the Sepon mine, but not the company itself (“Minmetals to buy OZ assets for $1.2 billion,” Domain-B.com, 2 April 2009, as reported on LaoFAB).

The newly appointed senior manager of the Sepon mine, Richard Taylor, affirmed that despite the takeover, the mine’s social responsibility projectsw will continue. These projects are not very clear: Vientiane Times described them as “financial assitance worth US$ 500,000 to a trust fund” plus scholarships for Lao students to go to Australia. It is unclear what trust fund and over what period this contribution takes place. Taylor also said, contradicting himself, that the scholarships have been suspended because of the economic crisis (Vientiane Times, “Sepon’s commitment to remain unchanged,” 3 April 2009, as reported by LaoFAB).

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