Critics of genetically modified organisms argue the technology poses risks to public health and the environment, while advocates say such fears have not been scientifically proven and that high-yielding genetically altered crops would help ensure food security as the world’s population grows.

Although relatively few people signed the letter, it marks a rare example of open opposition to state-supported corporate strategy in a nation where the government often clamps down hard on any criticism.

It also underscores fears among some of the public that the government is gearing up to gradually loosen laws that prevent the cultivation of any GM varieties of staple food crops, with Beijing already permitting the import of some GMO crops for use in animal feed.

The US$43 billion all-cash deal unveiled in February is the largest foreign acquisition ever by a Chinese firm as China is looking to secure food supplies for its population. Syngenta has a portfolio of top tier chemicals and patent-protected seeds, many of which are genetically modified.

“The acquisition of Syngenta and the promotion of its genetically-modified and agro-chemical agriculture in the country would destroy the country’s own agriculture and food security,” the protesters said in the letter, seen by Reuters. They argue GMO strains would contaminate Chinese staple crops.

“ChemChina must immediately stop the suicidal acquisition from causing a disaster to the Chinese nation.”

Syngenta did not respond to requests for comment. A ChemChina spokesman said he had heard about the letter and that the company was waiting to learn more about it.

Yang Xiaolu, one of the protesters on the list, said the letter was handed over late last month to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC), which overseas companies owned by the central government.

A SASAC spokeswoman said her office had not yet seen the letter, but was looking into the matter.

Yang, a long-time anti-GMO activist, is also among the three plaintiffs who were taking China’s Ministry of Agriculture to court in April last year in a bid to make public a toxicology report supporting the approval of Monsanto’s popular weed killer.

Reuters was unable to verify other names listed on the anti-GMO letter.

China’s commerce ministry spokesman Shen Danyang said in February that the ministry supported the acquisition which would help secure global food supply.

The protest comes amid worries that Beijing is losing control over the supervision of GMO technology.

Last month, agriculture minister Han Changfu admitted that GMO corn was illegally grown in some parts of the country, but found “no large areas of illegal planting” after Greenpeace said a majority of samples taken from corn fields in 5 counties in Liaoning province, tested positive for GMO contamination.

— Reporting for Reuters by Niu Shuping and David Stanway.

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The government will instead subsidize corn growers and encourage commercial firms to buy grain from farmers at market prices, the State Administration of Grain said in a statement on Tuesday.

The new policy, which marks the biggest reform in China’s grains sector for a decade, is aimed at improving quality and efficiency in its agricultural sector as part of the country’s “supply-side reform.”

But it could prove costly for Beijing, potentially leaving it with huge financial losses as falling prices devalue massive stockpiles that hold over half the world’s corn supplies.

And as domestic prices start to shift in line with international markets, Chinese demand for imports of corn and corn substitutes such as sorghum, feed barley and distillers’ grains is expected to tank, hitting major suppliers such as the U.S. and Australia.

“We hope the new reform would let the market play more of a role in the formation of prices,” Liu Xiaonan, a deputy director with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), was quoted as saying in the statement.

The new policy will take effect in the world’s No. 2 corn consumer from the 2016-17 marketing year that starts in October.

“Imports after autumn would be very difficult and could come to a halt,” said Li Qiang, an analyst with commodity advisory Shanghai JC Intelligence Co. Ltd. (JCI).

“Given the market-oriented reform of domestic corn prices, it is possible that China would be able to export both corn and corn products.”

Beijing’s nine-year-old stockpiling system, designed to support its huge rural workforce, has artificially lifted corn prices around 30-50 per cent above global markets, triggering a record volume of imports of corn and corn substitutes in 2015.

Government officials signalled the policy change last month. Chen Xiwen, deputy director with the Communist Party’s Central Rural Working Leading Group said the move would make domestic corn prices cheap enough to deter imports.

The step was also flagged over the weekend by local television, and has already driven down domestic corn prices.

The new-crop corn contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange shed about two per cent in the Tuesday morning session after falling over three per cent the day before.

Massive state sales loom?

After years of stockpiling coupled with weakening domestic demand, the government has been saddled with about 250 million tonnes of corn in its reserves, more than the country can consume in a whole year, with the quality of the stored grain deteriorating.

The government is likely to sell more than 40 million tonnes from stockpiles this year, possibly starting from next month, with prices potentially below market price, said JCI’s Li.

“Traders will be watching developments closely as the selldown of Chinese reserves will impact demand for U.S. corn,” said Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Government hopes that the policy will cut corn production could be dashed in the short term, however, as many farmers have already purchased seeds ahead of the planting season that starts next month, analysts said.

“Farmers may not reduce acreage as much as the government expects. Corn could still be in surplus during the autumn harvest,” said an analyst with an official think-tank, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue.

China has already abolished stockpiling in cotton, soybeans and rapeseed, and the Tuesday statement said it would also look into reforming wheat and rice, the two remaining staple food commodities subject to minimum purchase prices set by the government.

— Reporting for Reuters by Niu Shuping and David Stanway in Beijing; additional reporting by Colin Packham in Sydney.

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In its latest move to boost a sector that has struggled with the world’s most expensive domestic corn, the government is preparing to slash state support prices by another 10 per cent to 1,800 yuan (C$376) per tonne for 2016-17, according to three sources. That would follow previously announced cuts for the crop year that began in October.

Cheaper local prices could sap appetite for imports from processors in the world’s No. 2 corn consumer behind the U.S., a move that could weigh on world prices and hurt corn exporters from the Americas to Ukraine.

Grain processors make products ranging from animal feed to sweeteners and ethanol.

A cut in prices could also stifle demand for corn substitutes such as sorghum, distillers grains (DDGS) and barley, which saw record Chinese imports of over 30 million tonnes in 2014-15.

“The government has to reduce the price, given its massive stocks and as domestic corn prices are still much more expensive than imports,” said Qian Jianjun, an analyst with Beijing Orient Agri-business Consultant Co. Ltd.

Beijing could also offer freight subsidies to animal feed mills in the south of the country that ship corn from the northeastern growing belt, two of the sources said. They did not specify when this could happen.

The finance ministry as well as the National Development and Reform Commission did not respond to requests for comment.

The three sources, who have direct knowledge of the matter, said Beijing may announce the new corn price cuts early next year before planting starts in March.

“Imports of corn and corn substitutes could fall more than we earlier expected, dropping 50 per cent or even more from last year,” said an analyst with an official think-tank.

Beijing has been forced to gradually pull away from its controversial policy of supporting farmers through buying corn for national reserves, as stocks are expected to have ballooned to 200 million tonnes by April next year — equivalent to over a year of the country’s consumption.

Higher local prices driven by the stockpiling mean that mills and refiners have lost cash and racked up debt, with as much as 60 percent of China’s processing capacity shut over the past three years, according to refinery sources.

Lifeline?

In an earlier step to offer refiners a lifeline, Beijing in September cut state support prices for the first time since 2008. Corn refineries in the northeast have also been offered subsidies for buying local grain.

Those steps helped narrow the gap between domestic and imported grain prices to a difference of around 20 per cent, but have not been enough to erode stocks or encourage broad investment from the animal feedstock or sweetener sectors.

Although at least one company has taken advantage of cheaper raw material prices: Global Bio-chem Technology Group Co., Asia’s largest corn refiner, restarted its idled corn sweetener and lysine plants last week, an official told Reuters.

The lysine plant in the northeast province of Jilin will reach full capacity of 500,000 tonnes per year by the end of November, said the official, who declined to be identified as he was not authorized to speak with media. Lysine is an animal feed ingredient.

However, tepid demand for animal feed will stymie efforts to boost many corn processors. Some poultry farmers’ flocks are recovering from bird flu and China’s culling of its hog herds has depleted stocks.

Meng Jinhui, an analyst with COFCO Futures Co. Ltd., said corn demand would not return to the record highs seen in 2012 of 120 million tonnes “any time soon.”

— Reporting for Reuters by Niu Shuping and David Stanway in Beijing.

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In previous years, private mills were normally allocated grain import quotas in January, allowing them to start ordering cargoes immediately, but it could take several more months this year as Beijing revamps its quota allocation system in a bid to reduce stockpiles, analysts said.

While overall import quota volumes are unchanged, the amount allocated to individual mills will depend on how much they are prepared to buy from state reserves.

“Corn imports will surely decrease this year as the reserve-linked quota allocation system will help the government get rid of stocks while discouraging mills from importing,” said Feng Lichen, a senior analyst with industry portal yumi.com.cn.

Quotas will be allocated once mills have paid for and received grain bought at auction and the whole process could stretch out for more than two months.

Total corn import quotas amount to 7.2 million tonnes, but 60 per cent of that, earmarked for state-owned entities, will not be issued at all in a bid to encourage state reserve sales, Feng said.

But the government could struggle to issue the remaining 40 per cent to private mills, with many reluctant to buy reserves that are often low in quality and far too expensive, he added.

In order to obtain quotas, some mills pay more than 240 yuan (C$46) per tonne higher than the market price for state corn stored in northeastern provinces.

During the first round of auctions from Jan. 6-8, only 36 per cent of the corn on offer was sold, amounting to 1.7 million tonnes. The remainder will go on sale again next week.

“Mills are motivated to profit from cheaper imports, but the price gap changes every day and they are not sure when they can get the quotas,” said another industry source. “They face potential risks if overseas prices rise.”

Auctions for state wheat reserves have proved more popular, with flour mills desperate to get hold of import quotas and gain access to higher-quality produce, which is in short supply in China.

This week, the government sold 83.6 per cent of the two million tonnes on offer at an average price of 2,569 yuan (C$491) per tonne for white wheat and 2,635 yuan for mixed quality wheat, according to results posted by the National Grain and Oil Trade Centre.

COFCO, a state-owned trader, is also sourcing high-quality wheat overseas and bought two cargoes earlier this month, industry sources said.

— Niu Shuping and David Stanway report for Reuters from Beijing.

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That has sparked fears that other cargoes could be turned away, with some traders and buyers warning that uncertainty over the discovery could prompt a sharp decline in new Chinese orders for U.S corn.

“We are completely lost and have no idea how to deal with the situation,” said one executive with a major animal feed mill.

“Not all corn cargoes were blocked for entry, but it is a messy situation.”

An initial U.S. corn cargo was rejected in mid-November due to the discovery of the same variety, Syngenta’s Agrisure Viptera, at a time when U.S. corn exports to China have been soaring as Beijing grapples with record-high domestic corn prices and rising demand for food.

Traders have said that the variety, also known as MIR 162, is set to be approved by China soon. It is already shipped to destinations such as top corn importer Japan, South Korea and the European Union.

Slowing Chinese demand would drag further on global prices that have dropped around 40 per cent so far this year on expectations of a bumper U.S. harvest.

One cargo of about 60,000 tonnes in the southern province of Fujian was found to be tainted with MIR 162, traders said on Tuesday.

The same GMO strain was found in another 49 containers, equivalent to 1,225 tonnes, at the port of Shenzhen, they said. It was Shenzhen’s quarantine authority that last month rejected one cargo of the grain from the U.S. containing MIR 162.

“Since this is the same GMO in the latest discovery, the shipments may have to be blocked for entry,” said one trader.

Quarantine officials at Fujian, Shenzhen and Beijing declined to make immediate comment.

Possible delays

Buyers said they were unlikely to place new orders while shipments were in danger of being rejected.

“The latest discovery is bad news for some buyers… and will slow imports,” said Li Qiang, chief analyst with Shanghai JC Intelligence Co. Ltd. (JCI).

Some U.S. exporters have already been in talks with Chinese buyers over possible delays in existing orders in the wake of the first GMO discovery, the China National Grain and Oils Information Center (CNGOIC) said in a report.

The official think-tank earlier estimated China’s corn imports in December would be about 1.75 million tonnes.

China is expected to import a record seven million tonnes of corn in the 2013-14 marketing year, up from 5.23 million tonnes the previous year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The U.S. supplied nearly 94 per cent of China’s corn imports in the first 10 months of 2013.

China already allows imports of 25 different GMO corn varieties and is considering adding other commonly cultivated kinds to the list, including Agrisure Viptera, which has been pending approval for about 18 months.

Designed to offer enhanced protection against crop-damaging insects and widely grown in the U.S., it was expected to get the green light later this year or in 2014, according to traders. The variety in question has been approved for use and cultivation in Canada since March 2010.

A bulk corn shipment from Argentina was cleared for import earlier this year despite it containing traces of MIR 162.

The latest possible rejection comes as Beijing gets into full swing stockpiling its domestic corn harvest in the major growing provinces in the northeast, aiming to shore up domestic prices and help farmers.

Beijing is offering subsidies to feed mills in buying domestic corn due to tight storage capacity. Domestic demand has been weakening, while the country, the world’s second largest corn consumer, is expected to harvest a record crop this year.

Government stockpiles are expected to double to around 60 million tonnes in 2013-14 – nearly 30 percent of the country’s annual consumption.

China turned into a net corn importer in 2011 as domestic production failed to meet rising demand driven by more meat consumption as the country urbanizes.

The U.S. historically is the world’s top supplier of corn, exporting between 10 and 20 per cent of its harvest each year.

— Niu Shuping and David Stanway report for Reuters from Beijing.

Related story:
China rejects U.S. corn cargo for unapproved GM variety: source, Nov. 18, 2013

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