Japanese firms in vanguard of foreign investors to tap farmland
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-05-30 14:03
Three Japanese firms, including two on the Fortune magazine's world top 500
list, have jointly contracted 100 hectares of arable land in east China's
Shandong Province, to become the first foreign investors tapping China's farming
industry.
Workers are erecting wooden stands to build green houses on
the land in the outskirt of Laiyang City on Tuesday, which is known as one of
China's grain production bases.
The new growers here are Japan's top
brewer Asahi Breweries, and Itochu Trading Corp. and Sumitomo Chemical Co., the
two on the Fortune list.
The land was leased from 800 local farmers with
an annual rental fee of 12,000 yuan (1,500 U.S. dollars) per ha. a year.
The Japanese firms have registered their farming entity under the name
of the Shandong Asahi Green Source High-tech Farm Co. Ltd. at the local bureau
of industry and commerce.
The corporate farming business aims to use
organic technology for high-end urban Chinese consumers.
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