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During the past decade of trade tensions, the United States has repeatedly asked China to buy more American agricultural products. But many American farmers lost sales under the Trump administration’s tariffs.

As America’s largest agricultural export by value, soybeans make headlines. But even there, the White House Work hard to meet deadlines China purchases new U.S. soybeans. China did buy one Record amount last year ——Mainly from Brazil. But Beijing’s ultimate goal is food security—reducing its dependence on other countries.

This is where corn comes in.

Chinese researchers are developing corn with higher protein content Can replace large amounts of soybean imports. Most of these soybeans are used in animal feed and support domestic meat production. In this regard, China has a clear goal: to increase self-sufficiency. By 2030, China aims to reduce soybean meal use in animal feed to only 10%.

Notably, Beijing this month called for Improve the quality of domestic soybeansrather than simply plant moreas it urged last year. This indicates that the land is being reserved for other uses.

Technology drives agriculture

To cope with the challenges of limited arable land and a large rural population, Beijing has sought to use technology and targeted policies to achieve its food security goals.

According to Goldman Sachs, China has about three-quarters of the arable land of the United States even though its population is four times larger, meaning policymakers must redouble their efforts to increase yields per acre. about 34% China population live in rural areas, compared with about 20% in the U.S.

While cornfields and tractors dominate much of America’s rural plains, on a similar drive through rural China, I would see more mountains and more people still working the land by hand. For Chinese urban consumers, the difference is that these farms are more closely connected to the Internet and high-speed rail.

Beijing’s efforts to reduce poverty and ensure social stability in rural areas have led to the development of infrastructure across the country. E-commerce companies such as JD.com and Pinduoduo have entered the market new rural market. Companies such as DJI Innovations are also developing businesses around agricultural drones. Last year, while I was riding the high-speed train from Beijing to Shanghai, I saw a drone working in a field.

Technology company Colorful Red has gone further, expanding from China’s Silicon Valley Shenzhen to a rural area in Yunnan province to standardize local corn production for a larger market.

Local subsidiary Ishii Agritech uses sensors and software, including DeepSeek’s artificial intelligence, to optimize regional production. Participating farmers do not have to find sales channels on their own. Instead, they can cultivate small plots of land in mountainous grasslands and sell corn to the company at a fixed price for unified processing, and then sell it to major dealers through the Internet.

A similar story is playing out in the northeastern Heilongjiang province, where farmers can process corn in centralized factories and then sell it nationwide and abroad under the “Laojieji” brand.

This is just one aspect of local agricultural development. China is investing heavily in agricultural research and development, and its public sector spending Roughly double the U.S. in 2019 and 2021.

Trina Chen, co-head of China equity research at Goldman Sachs, said that by 2022, China will begin commercializing first-generation biotech seeds, which will increase corn yields by 10%.

Official data from Wind Information shows that this leaves the country’s corn imports in 2025 at only 2.65 million tons, down from peak levels of nearly 30 million tons in 2022 and 2023.

investor interest

More funds are about to enter China’s agricultural sector.

Last week it was reported that Chinese agritech giant Syngenta was Another attempt to go public, this time in Hong Kong. The listing of 20% of the company’s shares will Support R&D investmentThe Financial Times reported, citing sources.

Syngenta’s management, which remains based in Switzerland, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, the company’s China operations have made strides in supporting domestic seed development, 111 new varieties The product received state approval for commercial use in the quarter ended Oct. 30. With Syngenta’s global reach, the company is building an agricultural advantage that can also compete overseas.

This is just a snapshot of China’s very sophisticated national efforts to reduce its dependence on the United States and other countries for food. But long-held perceptions about the quality of Chinese food won’t disappear overnight—think tea grown next to diesel-injected trucks.

As an urban consumer in this country, I know I can now order produce online and have it arrive almost as fresh as when I visit the farm.

For American farmers facing a more self-sufficient China, it may be time to start looking for new customers.

Trump had a phone call with Xi Jinping. Discussion between Chinese and American leaders Taiwan and trade late last weekahead of Trump’s much-anticipated spring trip to Beijing.

Coffee Wars. Luckin Coffee Opened the first high-end beverage store In Shenzhen on Sunday, pressure mounted on Starbucks, which is selling most of its China operations to Boyu Capital.

Electric cars are in trouble. BYD and other major Chinese EV companies see Sales fell in January Starting in December, demand continued to be sluggish.