Agriculture bright spot in relations, envoy says

Agricultural cooperation between China and the United States has bright prospects, but the danger of overstretching "the concept of security" has to be avoided, a top Beijing envoy has said.

Such an incident took place on Oct 17, when Arkansas ordered Syngenta, a Swiss agrichemicals and seeds group bought by a Chinese company, to sell 65 hectares of farmland in the state within two years or be kicked out.

The move came as Washington increasingly scrutinizes foreign land ownership, citing concerns about national security.

Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng — using as an example the dilemma of a top agriculture company — called for a stop to the politicization of economic issues.

"We are still facing serious difficulties and challenges in China-US relations. To deepen agricultural cooperation, we need to say no to attempts to politicize economic issues or overstretch the concept of security," Xie said at a US-China sustainable agricultural trade forum Monday in Des Moines, Iowa.

Syngenta has employed 4,000 Americans, serves US farmers with advanced agritech across more than 40 states, pays salaries totaling around $510 million, and purchases $2 billion worth of goods and services annually.

"Over the past 53 years of its operation in the United States, never has it posed any national security risk. But now, it is subject to unreasonable suppression simply because it was bought by a Chinese company six years ago," he said.

Xie highlighted "the spirit of contract" to make his case about why this should not have happened.

"Just imagine: If such discrimination and unfair treatment happens to an American company investing elsewhere, which risks getting kicked out any time in disregard of the contract, how would the US government and people feel?" Xie said.

"Is there any basic respect for the spirit of contract, market rules and fair play?" he said.

The ambassador's trip to the Midwestern state, which Chinese President Xi Jinping visited in 1985 and 2012, occurred at a time when Beijing and Washington are stepping up efforts to stabilize the world's most consequential bilateral relations.

It coincided with the first meeting of the China-US economic working group, co-chaired by vice-ministerial officials from both sides, and came just days before Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to Washington from Thursday to Saturday at the invitation of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Half of American soybeans, including those from Iowa, are sold to China, the largest market for US agricultural exports, which take up one-fifth of the US total.

He said there will be "even more robust" demand for high-quality farm produce in China, as the people care more now about healthy eating.

"On average, every US farmer exported over US$13,000 worth of agricultural products to China. And we expect more in the future," Xie wrote in a message posted Tuesday on X.

The ambassador noted that agricultural cooperation is a "shining example" that has benefited both peoples and the world.

China's hybrid rice, for example, is now grown in nearly 70 countries, which has boosted the total global grain output by 150 million tons, enough to feed 400 million to 500 million more people.

In the 1980s, the hybrid rice technology was introduced in the US as the first agricultural patent technology exported by China. Four decades later, it has covered half of the total US rice area.

"Agricultural cooperation between us will not only bring more food choices to our peoples' tables and more income into farmers' pockets, but also enable us to combat common challenges such as global food security with advanced agritech for the benefit of the entire humanity," he said.

It is the shared responsibility of China and the United States as two major countries to build a world free of hunger and want, Xie added.

A contract-signing ceremony followed Monday's forum, in which Chinese delegates signed at least 10 orders worth billions of dollars, according to Xie.

During his visit to Iowa, the ambassador visited the Sino-US Friendship House in Muscatine.

In 1985, Xi, then Party secretary of Zhengding county in China's Hebei province, stayed in the same house as part of a delegation visiting Iowa for the study of agricultural techniques.

During his visit to the United States in 2012, Xi, then China's vice-president, visited Muscatine again.

"So glad to revisit the Sino-US Friendship House and all the beautiful moments between President Xi Jinping and his Iowan friends. The seeds of goodwill planted by President Xi 38 years ago have grown into lush trees. Let's keep advancing the friendship between our peoples and add more stories to this time-honored memorial!" Xie wrote on social media Tuesday.