Proposal for the state to use foreign exchange reserves to support agriculture "going global"
On March 4, Chen Zhangliang, member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and vice chairman and member of the Secretariat of the China Association for Science and Technology, was a guest on People's Daily Online and gave an online interview on the topic of "Chinese agriculture going global." Chen Zhangliang said the state should take out a portion of its foreign exchange reserves to support Chinese agriculture "going global."
Chen Zhangliang put forward three suggestions for Chinese agriculture going global. First, formulate an overall strategy for agriculture "going global." Agriculture "going global" is an inevitable choice for Chinese agricultural enterprises to participate in global competition and strive for agricultural "discourse power." He suggested that the Ministry of Agriculture take the lead in research, make full use of foreign resources and international markets, and support well-funded enterprises in cooperating with countries and regions with high-quality resources and relatively low comparative costs to develop domestically scarce resources; encourage enterprises with comparative advantages to invest and set up factories in countries and regions with a good market environment, conduct production and operations, and drive the export of products, services and technology.
Second, accelerate innovation in administrative systems. The government should substantially reduce the authority and scope of administrative approval, introduce market intermediary mechanisms, relax regulation over finance, foreign exchange, credit and other areas, and gradually implement liberalization of overseas investment.
Chen Zhangliang said that the country currently has a great deal of foreign exchange reserves, and asked whether a portion of it could be taken out to support Chinese agriculture going global.
Third, strengthen the education and training of international talent. The shortage of talent who understand international operations is one of the most important factors affecting the success of agriculture "going global." The cultivation of internationalized talent requires reform of the national education system at the macro level. Government education departments and institutions should increase degree education in "transnational operations" and strengthen training in a targeted way in fields such as language, cross-cultural operations and mergers and acquisitions, so that China's higher education is more closely aligned with the needs of enterprises "going global."