In today’s talking points: Gina Rinehart launches beef brand destined for China；New Hope Group plans to invest $1b into Australian Agriculture；China to revive ‘time-honored brands’；Aussie farmers need capital to cater Chinese consumers’ needs.
Gina Rinehart launches beef brand destined for China
Yesterday, Gina Rinehart launched her wagyu brand 2GR. Many believe this move has come as Shanghai CRED have begun commission live exports from Australia to China. The boxed beef brand will be sold in Beijing and Shanghai high-end restaurants, with 12 tonnes of wagyu already packed for shipment. Shanghai CRED has, Mrs Rinehart’s Kidman co-owner, will be distributing over 1200 black Angus that left south-Western Victoria over the past weekend. Mr Kelf an expert in China’s beef market said “From the Kidman point of view, she’s [Mrs Rinehart] in a very good position to be able to take advantage of opportunities that exist in the mass market in China.”
Read more at ABC
New Hope Group plans to invest $1b into Australian Agriculture
New Hope Group is China’s biggest private agribusiness. In 2013 it paid $100 million for a controlling stake in Kilcoy Pastoral company and in the following two years, announced a $100 million deal with Moxeys and Perichs dairy farming families. Nick Dowling, New Hope group’s Australian Chief executive officer, believed the reason as to why New Hope has remained relatively unknown has been because it did not buy land and assets but preferred to invest in local companies. New Hope Group chairman Liu Yonghao has pledged $1 billion in investments into the Australian agriculture sector by 2020. New Hope’s commitment to Australia is cemented with the opening of a new head office in Sydney.
Read more at ABC
China to revive ‘time-honored brands’
The Ministry of Commerce (MOC) of the PRC and another 15 central authorities have jointly published a favorable plan to increase policy support for ‘time-honored’ brands, known as ‘laozihao’ in Chinese. Among 1,128 century-old traditional Chinese brands with 60% in pharmaceuticals, food and catering industry, only 10% meets the demand of consumers and the rest are vulnerable to fierce competition amid rapidly-changing era. Laozihao represents China’s traditional commercial morality and the spirit of craftsman, so that government is bounded to preserve traditional techniques, revitalize long-established culture and improve brand reputation.
Read more at Xinhua
Aussie farmers need capital to cater Chinese consumers’ needs
Australian agribusiness needs more capital to increase the output and quality of produce in order to meet the demands of the largest partner, China, suggested by experts, farmland has played an integral role in Australia’s economic prosperity. Therefore, more investment is acquired for the introduction of innovation and renewable technologies to the industry, however current regulations on investment restricted the environmentally sustainable development of agribusiness. Hannah Bretherton, a researcher at China Matters, suggested that the policy needs to be revised in order to reach the potential of Australia’s agribusiness.
Read more at Xinhua