Beijing’s state-run farms, as pacesetters of China’s agriculture modernization, have been bestowed by history an important mission of serving the overall state diplomacy. 

 

Beijing’s state-run farms have received over 50 foreign delegations led by heads of states or governments since 1955. Chairman Ho Chi Minh of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, who visited the Beijing Nanjiao Farm in 1955, was the first foreign head of state who visited a Chinese agriculture enterprise. The state-run farms later received over a million visitors in hundreds of scientific, technological, economic and trade delegations aimed at friendly exchanges from across the world.    

Fruitful International Economic and Technical Cooperation

Beijing Municipal State Farm Administration started international economic and technical cooperation in early 1950s.

 

In the spring of 1952, the Shuangqiao Farm received an advanced Romanian tractor from Chairman Mao Zedong who got the tractor as a present. Later the farm was donated over 100 sets of large agricultural implements from various countries, and established China’s first modern large-scale mechanized farm, of which an American friend William Hinton (Chinese name Han Ding) was the technical advisor.

 

In 1970s, an American couple Erwin Engst and Joan Hinton (Chinese name Yangzao and Hanchun ) spent 10 years in NanJiao Farm and built the first large-scale modern dairy farm in New China through their hard work.

 

From the beginning of the 1980s, Beijing’s State-run farms emancipated their mind and boldly introduced a batch of urgently?-needed advanced technologies as well as agricultural equipment from western developed countries. A number of international exchange agencies for agricultural technologies such as the China-Japan Friendship Dairy Farm, China-Switzerland Dairy Industry Technology Center, China-Israel Demonstration Farm, China-Holland Pig Industry Technology Center were established, playing important role in improving China’s modern agriculture technologies and cultivating high-caliber technical personnel.

 

Beijing Municipal State Farm Administration did a lot of work in terms of foreign agricultural aid as well. It used to be one of the main undertakers of China’s foreign agricultural assistance in the period of 1962-2002.

 

The Administration sent hundreds of agricultural experts to Asian, African and Latin American countries to help local people in getting rid of poverty and improving agricultural production. The Chinese experts worked tirelessly with local farmers to overcome all kinds of obstacles and successfully built on barren land a number of modern agricultural production bases with high yields. Working shoulder to shoulder and sharing joys and sorrows, the experts and local people forged brotherly friendship, leaving a splendid chapter in the cause of people-to-people friendly exchanges all over the world.

 

With China fully opening up to the outside world in 1980s, the international economic cooperation of the Administration entered a new stage.

 

CAG owns 34 joint ventures with Chinese and foreign investments, among which 8 are national industry leaders boasting strong brand advantages. They are Beijing McDonald, Beijing KFC, Beijing Kewpie, Beijing Hormel, Beijing Faxi, Beijing Simplot, Beijing Bama and Beijing Huadu-Ceva. Two of them——Beijing Kewpie and Beijing Faxi are awarded with the title of “Chinese Famous Brand”.

 

The subsidiary joint ventures enjoy evident advantages in management, technologies and human resources. Most foreign partners of the CAG are world-renowned major corporations. CAG attaches great attention to the standardization of management as well as introduction, application and recreation of advanced technologies. Through years of accumulation and growth, CAG has developed comprehensive management, technical and personnel strength which are closely connected with the Chinese market. The foreign investments attracted by CAG have contributed to the development of Beijing’s economy.

 

The Group attaches great importance to cooperation with top-notch multi-national corporations in the world so that the industry it is in can always catch up with the top level in the world. By using foreign capital and establishing foreign-invested joint ventures, CAG utilizes various advantages of MNCs to build a number of competitive international brands and hit products.

 

CAG’s experience of utilizing foreign investments over the past 3 decades has demonstrated the great significance and the vitality of China’s opening-up policy. It is one of the most classic and representative achievements scored in the Group’s reform and opening-up endeavor.

CAG’s Basic Experience in International Exchanges

First, international awareness are given priority while national interests are considered supreme. CAG is born with genes of international awareness. Concepts such as international affairs are given priority and exception, and that there is nothing minor in international affairs are in the mind of every one and are implemented by all from the Chairman of the Board to ordinary employees.

 

Second, the Group leadership takes international exchanges very seriously. CAG has gone through several structural reforms over past decades, but the International Affairs Leading Group (IALG) is always there with CAG’s top leader as the head of IALG and a core executive as full-time group leader.   

Third, CAG frees its mind and strives to be the first. When facing major opportunities, CAG never waited or relied on others. Instead, it sized up the situation and forged ahead bravely, creating many “first” in the field of international agricultural cooperation in China.

 

Fourth, CAG boldly employs talented people to build a first-class team to deal with international work. After reform and opening-up, Beijing Agricultural Reclamation Bureau took the lead to fill positions concerning foreign affairs with a number of elites with sound political integrity and professional competence.

 

Fifth, CAG attaches importance to forward-looking research. It takes research of domestic and foreign information seriously to provide strong information support to the expansion of the Group’s overseas business.

 

Over recent years, CAG has recruited dozens of graduates with Post-doctoral, doctoral and masters’ degrees from renowned universities both home and abroad such as Peking University and Tsinghua University to build an think tank on international affairs.

Driving Force in the “Go Global” Strategy in the New Period

The important strategy of the CPC Central Committee to build “Silk Road Economic Belt” and “Maritime Silk Road in the 21st Century” has brought new development opportunities to CAG. The Group leadership takes account of the current situation and proposes a strategy of developing “Overseas CAG”. Overseas business is identified as an important part of our long-term strategy.

 

The Group plans to use 5-8 years starting from 2015 to build another “CAG” abroad by establishing a batch of modern agricultural and food products processing enterprises in Australia, Southeast Asia, Europe and South America.

 

Aiming to exploit international market and expand foreign trade export, and driven forward by deepened reform and innovated institutions, CAG will promote various subsidiary companies with conditions to “go global” and lead companies with competitive advantages to operate internationally so as to establish famous brands, enhance international competitiveness and contribute to the development strategy of Beijing’s agriculture reclamation.