Response of local producers to agro-food port rejection : the case of Chinese vegetable exports

This paper analyzes the factors associated with the rejection of products at ports of importer countries and remedial actions taken by producers in China by taking as an example one of the most competitive agro-food products of China: frozen vegetables. This paper provides an overview of the vegetable production and distribution system in China and the way in which China has been participating in exports of these products. Later sections will examine in detail the frozen vegetable sector in China, identify the causes of port rejections, and the actions taken by the Chinese government and by producers, processors and exporters to improve the quality of frozen vegetable exports

Food Safety and Agro-Environment in China: Perceptions and Behaviors of Farmers and Consumers

The prediction of China's rise is the subject of this book. The main ideas of this book are derived from Kanshokufuji, a new concept proposed by the chief editor of Prof. Nanseki, pertaining to a sound food system in a sound agro-environment. It implies that food supply and demand are non-separable in terms of location due to the importance of retaining the suitable condition of the environment and biodiversity in the region. This concept is necessary and useful for coping with environmental issues and related food safety issues. From this view point, several integrated surveys in both rural and urban areas of China were conducted by the food risk research group at the Research Institute for East Asia Environments (RIEAE), Kyushu University to reveal the current status of the environment, food, and agriculture in this country. The results of the surveys are introduced in this book, along with implications and recommendations. We hope this book be referential for policy-makers, researchers and industry personnel relating to food, agriculture and environment

China's Ongoing Agricultural Modernization: Challenges Remain After 30 Years of Reform

Thirty years ago, China began implementing a series of reforms to improve efficiency in agricultural production. These, and subsequent, reforms reshaped China’s position in the world economy. China’s rapid economic development and transformation from a planned to a market-oriented economy, however, has reached a stage where further efficiency gains in agricultural production will likely hinge on the development of modern market-supporting institutions. The development of market-supporting institutions in China will bring about long-term and sustainable benefits to producers and consumers in China and the global agricultural economy. This report provides an overview of current issues in China’s agricultural development, policy responses to these issues, and the effects of these policies on China’s growing role in international markets.China, economic reform, economic development, agricultural production, agricultural trade, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, Production Economics,

Milk Contamination Problems in China - Implications for International Dairy Businesses

Agribusiness, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Development, International Relations/Trade, Livestock Production/Industries,

No. 01: The Urban Food System of Nanjing, China

With a population of 8.2 million people, Nanjing is the 14th largest city in China. China became a predominantly urban nation in 2011, when its urban population surpassed its rural population for the first time. The declining farming population and area of farmland along with the increased food consumption of urban residents have had significant implications for China’s food security, including in cities such as Nanjing. As with many other Chinese cities, Nanjing’s informal economy has become an important source of income for the poor, including migrant workers. Since the beginning of economic reform in 1978, street vendors have become an integral part of urban China. Their activities are diverse and include selling fresh and processed food, as well as cooking it. The diversity of food outlets in big Chinese cities like Nanjing makes the foodscape extremely complex. There are thousands of supermarkets, small stores and more than 100 wet markets and wholesale markets in Nanjing. Food safety has become an urgent and important issue in the last few years, and the most relevant dimension of food security for Chinese urban residents might well be access to safe food. This audit of the city of Nanjing and its food system highlights the fact that there are major gaps in our understanding of the food system. As the Hungry Cities Partnership research program progresses, accurate information on a range of food issues in the city will fill many of these gaps

Organisational learning and food safety crises : a critical case study of the Sanlu and Fonterra crises : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Massey University, New Zealand

This study explores crisis-induced organisational learning in the Chinese and the New Zealand food safety authorities, or CFSA and NZFSA. While many crisis management scholars have sought to examine food safety crises, including the 2008 Sanlu melamine infant formula scandal and the 2013 Fonterra botulism scare, from the perspective of business organisations, food safety government agencies’ role in handling such crises, especially crisis-induced learning in the food safety authorities to prevent or better prepare for future crises, has been neglected. This thesis seeks to address this research gap by examining the two food safety crises under the lens of crisis-induced organisational learning to investigate changes in CFSA and NZFSA triggered by the biggest-ever food safety crises happened in China and New Zealand. Qualitative content analysis approach is employed to analyse the data corpus consisting of news articles and government documents recording the dairy food safety incidents and their socio-economic and political contexts and ensuing policy changes. A comparison between the two cases offers a deep understanding of the dairy food safety landscapes in the two countries and approaches employed by the government agencies in handling the dairy food safety crises. It also provides insights into dynamics of internal and external factors facilitating or inhibiting crisis-induced organisational learning in the two dairy food safety authorities. Though the two crises in this research have different socio-economic and political roots, they both caused unprecedented reputational damage not only to the dairy industries but to the whole food sectors in China and New Zealand. This research identifies multiple loopholes and underlying problems in the two dairy food safety regulatory systems leading to the incidents in question. It also finds systemic changes in the food safety authorities and the dairy food safety regulatory systems to address the loopholes. Political pressure and social emotion provoked by the dairy product crises are found to be the main factors facilitating learning in the public organisations. Conflict of interest incorporated into the dairy food safety system is seen as a key factor inhibiting deep learning in the two food safety authorities. This study therefore argues double-loop learning needs to happen in CFSA and NZFSA to uproot the underlying problem that led to lax regulation and other dairy food safety regulatory problems

Chinese consumers’ risk mitigating strategies against food fraud

Food fraud is prevalent in China and the increasing number of reported cases undermined the credibility of food safety authorities and the agri-food industry. Food scandals have caused Chinese consumers to be anxious and distrustful of local food products. Urban consumers have resorted to domestic risk mitigating strategies to identify fraudulent food products. This study aims to investigate the risk mitigating strategies against food fraud adopted by urban and rural consumers. Semi-structured interviews (n = 31) were conducted to collect data from urban and rural consumers in Beijing and Hebei, China. Three thematic domains and nine sub-themes were identified from the data set. There was a general sense of insecurity, anxiety and disapproval about the state of food products in the country. This has driven distrust in the food system, hence Chinese consumers have developed risk mitigating strategies against purchasing and consuming fraudulent food products. The three main coping approaches include purchasing decision making, information searching & sharing and daily self-preservation strategies. This is the first study to provide new empirical findings on rural consumers’ experiences in dealing with fraudulent products and their risk mitigating strategies against food fraud

チュウゴク ショクヒン ヲ メグル リスクコミュニケーション ノ コウチク ヲ メザシテ チュウゴクセイ レイトウ ギョーザ チュウドク ジケン ヲ ツウジテ ノ ショク ノ アンゼン ト ショウヒシャ ノ アンシン シンライ ノ ケンショウ

大阪大學中國文化論壇 討論文件Discussion Papers in Contemporary China Studies, Osaka University Forum on Chin