Syngenta’s Interaction Centre at Stein, Switzerland. (Syngenta.com)

Chinese citizens protest ChemChina-Syngenta deal

Reading Time: 2 minutes Beijing | Reuters — Around 400 Chinese citizens have signed a letter to protest the purchase of Swiss-based seeds and pesticides company Syngenta by state-owned ChemChina, saying the deal would eventually lead to genetically modified crops being sown across swathes of the country. Critics of genetically modified organisms argue the technology poses risks to public […] Read more

Curt Vossen. (Dave Bedard photo)

China may pay more for canola if standard changes

Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters –– Richardson International, one of Canada’s two largest grain handlers, may raise the price of canola shipments to China to reflect Beijing’s costly higher standard, its CEO said Thursday. The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa said in March that China had delayed to Sept. 1 its new standard for no more than one per […] Read more


(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

China’s farmers switch to soy amid corn market reform

Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — Wang Zhonghai, a 49-year-old farmer in China’s top corn producing province of Heilongjiang, plans to switch 80 per cent of his land to cultivate soybeans this year as the government ends a near-decade-old corn price support scheme. China announced last week it will stop its corn stockpiling program and allow markets to set […] Read more






(Photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

China delays implementing Canadian canola standard

Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters –– China has delayed implementing a tougher standard on Canadian canola shipments, just days before it was to take effect, as a result of talks between the two countries, a Chinese government spokesperson said. China’s new standard for foreign material in canola shipments will take effect Sept. 1 instead of April 1, […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

China, Canada in talks as tougher canola standard nears

Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters –– Canada and China are in talks about Beijing’s plans to toughen its standard on Canadian canola imports, an industry official said on Monday, just days before the change takes effect. China’s quarantine authority, AQSIQ, notified the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) last month that it would allow no more than one […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

Canada presses China on science in canola trade spat

Reading Time: < 1 minute Ottawa | Reuters — Canada is urging the Chinese government to stick to scientific facts in decisions on trade as Beijing plans to toughen its standard on Canadian canola shipments, federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay said Thursday. China’s quarantine authority, AQSIQ, notified the Canadian Food Inspection Agency last month that it would allow no more […] Read more