Fred Gale

Growth and Evolution in China’s 

Agricultural Support Policies

Economic

Research

Service

Economic 

Research

Report

Number 153

August 2013

United States Department of Agriculture
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Gale, Fred, Growth and Evolution in China’s Agricultural Support Policies, 

ERR-153. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, August

2013.

Cover photo credit: Fred Gale.
United States Department of Agriculture

Economic 

Research 

Service

Economic

Research

Report

Number 153

August 2013 Abstract

China is perhaps the most prominent example of a developing country that has transitioned from taxing to supporting agriculture. In recent years, Chinese price supports and 

subsidies have risen at an accelerating pace after they were linked to rising production 

costs. Per-acre subsidy payments to grain producers now equal 7 to 15 percent of those 

producers’ gross income, but grain payments appear to have little influence on production 

decisions. Chinese authorities began raising price supports annually to bolster incentives, 

and Chinese prices for major farm commodities are rising above world prices, helping to 

attract a surge of agricultural imports. U.S. agricultural exports to China tripled in value 

during the period when China’s agricultural support was accelerating. Overall, China’s 

expansion of support is loosely constrained by World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments, but the country’s price-support programs could exceed WTO limits in coming 

years. Chinese officials promise to continue increasing domestic policy support for agriculture, but the mix of policies may evolve as the Chinese agricultural sector becomes 

more commercialized and faces competitive pressures. 

Keywords: China, agricultural subsidies, price supports, direct payments, grain, World 

Trade Organization

Acknowledgments

The author received reviewer comments from Donna Roberts, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Economic Research Service; Daniel Cook, Scott Sindelar, Mark Petry, and 

Hui Jiang of USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service; Carol Goodloe of USDA’s Office of 

the Chief Economist; Andrzej Kwiecinski of the Organisation of Economic Co-operation 

and Development; Jikun Huang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; and Funing Zhong 

of the Nanjing Agricultural University. Chao Peng contributed to this report while he 

was a Fulbright Scholar at University of Maryland and an intern at ERS. Francis Tuan, 

Michael Jewison (now with World Agricultural Outlook Board) and Steve MacDonald 

of ERS also made contributions to this report. The National Grain and Oils Information 

Center provided data on prices of grains and oilseeds.

Fred Gale

Growth and Evolution in China’s 

Agricultural Support Policies
ii

Growth and Evolution in China’s Agricultural Support Policies, ERR-153

Economic Research Service/USDA

Contents

Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Overview of China’s Expansion of Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

China’s Strategy for Increasing Agricultural Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Increase in Grain Subsidy Payments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Expanded Coverage of Improved Seed Subsidy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Production Costs Outpaced Increase in Subsidies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Raising Price Supports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Continued Expansion of Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

WTO Limits on Domestic Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Divergence of Chinese and World Prices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Changing Nature of Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

China’s Agricultural Support and U.S. Exports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Soybeans: Exports to China $15 Billion During 2012. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Cotton: Exports to China $3.6 Billion During 2012. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Corn and Distillers Dried Grains: Exports to China $1.9 Billion During 2012. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Wheat: Exports to China $214 Million During 2012. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Meat and Poultry: Exports to China $900 Million During 2012. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Future Policy Directions and U.S. Exports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Appendix 1—Glossary of Chinese Policy-Related Terms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Appendix 2—Currency and Geographic Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Appendix 3—China’s Agricultural Support Programs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Appendix 4—How Subsidy Funds Are Distributed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
www.ers.usda.gov

What Is the Issue?

China is perhaps the most prominent example of a developing country that has shifted from 

taxing to subsidizing its agricultural sector. China’s domestic support policies for agriculture 

expanded rapidly in size and scope after an initial set of direct payments and price supports 

were introduced in the early 2000s. China’s agricultural programs are not well understood, and 

the United States and other trading partners have raised concerns about them. Industry leaders 

and policymakers in the United States and elsewhere want to know how China’s policies affect 

production and agricultural trade. World Trade Organization (WTO) members are concerned 

about whether China’s expansion of domestic agricultural support conforms to WTO rules. This 

report investigates China’s strategies for increasing agricultural subsidies and price supports, 

evaluates the impact of these policies on production and agricultural trade, and discusses China’s 

compliance with WTO limits on domestic agricultural support. 

What Did the Study Find?

China’s support for agriculture has grown by the addition of new programs and extension of 

coverage to more regions and commodities. Support is focused mainly on rice, wheat, and corn, but 

it has spread to other crops and livestock. The budgeted Chinese Government spending on agricultural programs rose to $73 billion in 2012, equal to 9 percent of the value of agricultural output.

China installed program mechanisms that link grain subsidy payments and price supports to 

increases in farmers’ production costs, thus ensuring steady increases in agricultural support. 

Direct payments rose to 7 to 15 percent of gross income for grain producers in 2012, but the 

payments appear to have little influence on farmers’ production decisions. Production costs have 

risen faster than subsidy payments. In particular, rising off-farm wages have increased the opportunity cost of farm labor, weakening incentives to engage in agricultural production. 

The weak incentives provided by subsidy payments prompted officials to raise price supports to 

stimulate production. From 2008 to 2013, price supports (in U.S. dollar values) were increased 

30 percent for rapeseed, 63 percent for wheat, 66 to 69 percent for corn, and 92 to 105 percent for 

different types of rice. 

United States Department of Agriculture

A report summary from the Economic Research Service August 2013

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Fred Gale

Growth and Evolution in China’s 

Agricultural Support Policies

Economic 

Research 

Service

Economic 

Research 

Report 

Number 153

August 2013

United States Department of Agriculture

Fred Gale

Growth and Evolution in China’s 

Agricultural Support Policies
The increase in support prices—combined with appreciation of China’s currency—has eroded the price competitiveness of Chinese commodities. In 2011, Chinese farm prices of grains, soybeans, rapeseed, cotton, and hogs 

exceeded U.S. prices by margins that ranged from 20 percent for wheat to 84 percent for live hogs. 

China focused expenditure on programs that are exempt from WTO limits on domestic support, provided subsidies not tied to specific commodities, and took advantage of high external reference prices in calculating the value 

of price supports reported to WTO. At least through 2008, these strategies minimized the amount of domestic 

support that counted towards China’s WTO commitments. However, China may exceed WTO limits if officials 

make large purchases at support prices or introduce product-specific subsidy payments. 

Chinese officials have stated intentions to expand direct payments, raise price supports, and add new policies. 

Authorities are also exploring ways of encouraging commercial-scale farms and shielding producers of particular 

commodities from import competition. 

While the increase in domestic support raises concerns among trading partners, dramatic growth in U.S. agricultural exports to China coincided with the expansion of Chinese agricultural support. The value of U.S. agricultural export sales to China tripled during 2007-12, reaching nearly $26 billion during 2012. China is now the 

leading destination for U.S. agricultural exports. 

How Was the Study Conducted?

The study is based on an extensive review and synthesis of Chinese documents, books, research studies, and other 

literature. The study compiled and analyzed data on financial expenditures, survey reports, commodity prices, 

support prices, and cost of production survey data published by the Chinese Government. The study reviewed 

China’s WTO notifications of domestic support from 1996 to 2008 to discern strategies for reporting subsidies and 

market price support. 

www.ers.usda.gov
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Growth and Evolution in China’s 

Agricultural Support Policies 

Fred Gale

Introduction

China is perhaps the leading example of a developing country that has shifted from taxing to 

supporting its agricultural sector. During the early 2000s, Chinese officials began a broad program 

of agricultural support that included tax reductions, direct subsidies, price supports, policy loans, 

expenditure on infrastructure, and intergovernmental transfers (Gale, Lohmar, and Tuan, 2005). 

Since then, agricultural support programs have expanded rapidly in size and scope (Petry and 

Chandlee, 2009; Lohmar et al., 2009; Gale, Lohmar, and Tuan, 2009; Huang, Wang, and Rozelle, 

2013). Documents outlining policies and strategies, such as the country’s 5-year plan for 2011-15 and 

central authorities’ 2013 “Number 1 Document,” called for continued increases in the value of subsidies, broader coverage of programs, and steady increases in agricultural price supports.

Many reforms were conducted during China’s lengthy negotiations to gain membership in the World 

Trade Organization. China’s 2001 WTO accession agreement set relatively low agricultural tariffs 

and placed limits on domestic agricultural support that were stricter than those for developing countries, measures that were meant to minimize distortionary policies and ensure access to China’s 

agricultural markets. During the years leading up to its WTO accession, China had eliminated many 

of the price distortions that had characterized its agricultural markets in earlier decades (Huang, Liu, 

Martin, and Rozelle, 2009).

The rapid increase in domestic agricultural support since 2005 has prompted calls for additional 

scrutiny from some trade partners to ensure that China is meeting its WTO obligations to limit 

market-distorting measures. The significance of China’s growing support is magnified by the 

country’s importance as the largest producer, consumer, and trader of many agricultural products. 

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2005; OECD, 2009) assessments reported that China’s level of agricultural support was growing rapidly, and OECD (2011) 

found that China’s agricultural support was approaching the average for developed countries. A U.S. 

International Trade Commission (2011) study commissioned by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee 

found that domestic support aided China’s competitiveness in some agricultural sectors. An assessment by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (2011) noted a rapid increase in domestic 

support, raised concerns that official Chinese information about 2005-08 support levels understated 

the amount of support, and promised to monitor domestic support. Concerns are compounded when 

Chinese officials themselves frequently attribute increases in grain production to policy support.

The emergence of agricultural support in developing countries like China poses a challenge to 

efforts to reduce global distortions in agricultural markets (Anderson, 2010; Orden, Josling, and 

Blandford, 2011). China’s scaling-up of agricultural support is the mirror image of the efforts of 

developed countries to discipline domestic support policies since the Uruguay Round of trade 
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negotiations in the 1990s. Chinese officials often assert that boosting subsidies and farm prices is a 

necessary part of their country’s transition to an industrialized, urbanized economy, citing the 20th 

century history of North America, Europe, and Japan (Zhang and Zhao, 2009; Guoqiang Cheng, 

2011; Xu, 2011; Niu, 2011). 

This report updates earlier ERS analyses of China’s agricultural support by examining the evolution of subsidy and price-support policies since their introduction. The report investigates the 

domestic support strategies of Chinese authorities and their effect on price competitiveness of 

commodities. China’s policies tend to reinforce a pattern of escalating prices and costs that erodes 

China’s international competitiveness in agricultural commodities. The report shows how WTO 

commitments shaped the mix of policies to keep China within WTO-imposed limits. China’s 

policies continue to evolve, and its relatively low barriers to trade constrain continued expansion 

of domestic support. The weak incentives provided by subsidy payments prompted a reliance on 

raising price supports that may cause Chinese prices to diverge from world prices, a phenomenon that improves the prospects for exports to China. Domestic policies are evolving further to 

strengthen links to production, become more commodity-specific, and promote the commercialization of China’s agricultural sector.
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Overview of China’s Expansion of Support

The foundation for China’s current agricultural support program was laid during 2000-04, a period 

when rural poverty, underemployment, and high taxation of farmers were major concerns and WTO 

accession was reshaping the country’s policy landscape. In 2004—after several years of regional 

experiments—authorities began eliminating an agricultural tax on farmers and introduced three 

small subsidies targeted at grain producers: a direct payment, a subsidy for improved seed varieties, 

and a partial rebate for farm machinery purchases. The Government’s direct role in grain markets 

was reduced to an indirect one of buying and selling reserves to maintain food security and stabilize 

prices. Price floors for wheat and rice were introduced in 2004-06. 

Since then, expenditure on the initial set of programs has grown rapidly and new ones have been 

added (fig. 1, table 1). Programs initially focused on producers in major grain-producing areas were 

extended to other commodities and regions. Some programs continued a longstanding campaign to 

induce adoption of modern inputs, form vertical linkages with agribusiness, and invest in irrigation 

in other infrastructure. Market intervention and subsidies increased as authorities grew concerned 

that low net returns and market fluctuations might discourage production of key commodities. 

China’s support for agriculture is now large and wide-ranging. In 2012, China’s Ministry of Finance 

reported budgeted spending for agricultural production rose to $75 billion, equal to $127 per metric 

ton of grain produced.1 The programs shown in figure 1 accounted for about half of that total. 

Other major expenditures included $9.8 billion for subsidized loans and storage of commodity 

reserves; $17.3 billion for irrigation and water projects and onfarm infrastructure spending; and 

1The Chinese Ministry of Finance reported spending 0.4 yuan per 500 grams of grain produced during 2012. This 

announcement reflects the Government’s priority of self-sufficiency in staple food grains as a motivation for agricultural 

support programs. Much of the expenditure—but not all of it—is focused on grain production.

Figure 1

China expenditures on major agricultural subsidy programs, 2004-12

Note: Amounts converted to U.S. dollars at official exchange rates.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service compilation of information from China Ministry of Finance.

Billion dollars

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

General input subsidy 

for grain producers

Agricultural machinery

Improved seed

Direct payment to grain 

producers

Agricultural insurance

County "awards"
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expenditures for agribusiness support, drought mitigation, and technical services. China has ambitious initiatives that seek to transform nearly every facet of agricultural production, including the 

land-tenure system, rural financial services, farmer cooperatives, agribusiness, plant and animal 

research, breeding systems, control of environmental pollution, food marketing, transportation, and 

logistics (Zhang and Zhao, 2009). A description of major support programs is available in appendix 

1, and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has compiled budgetary 

expenditures.2

China also raised support prices annually and used commodity reserves and trade measures to 

stabilize prices. From 2007 to 2012, China more than doubled price supports for rice, and the 

wheat support price was raised 70 percent (fig. 2). These increases in U.S.-dollar value reflect 42- 

to 86-percent increases in Chinese-currency prices plus the effects of a 20-percent appreciation in 

the currency against the U.S. dollar. China also added support price programs for corn, soybeans, 

rapeseed, and cotton. In 2009, China introduced a program to stabilize hog prices by triggering pork 

reserve purchases based on the ratio of hog and corn prices (Gale, Marti, and Hu 2012). 

In short, China’s support for agriculture is broad-based and is clearly on the rise. China taxed agriculture until the 1990s, but its $75-billion budgetary expenditure during 2012 was equal to 9 percent 

of agricultural output (as measured by “primary industry gross domestic product (GDP)”). China’s 

implicit support of farmers via increases in domestic prices compared to world prices also is rising. 

2See “country files” at http://www.oecd.org/agriculture/PSE/.

Table 1

Timeline of Chinese agricultural support programs

Year Policy measure Commodities

2000 Pilot reforms of rural taxes and fees

2002-03 Soybean seed subsidy and pilot grain subsidy programs in 

several regions

Soybeans, rice, wheat, corn

2004-06 Direct payment to grain producers 

General-input subsidy

Improved seed subsidy

Machinery subsidy

Transfer payments to grain counties

Reform of grain marketing system

Eliminated agricultural tax, specialty crop and animal slaughter 

taxes

Rice and wheat price supports

Rice, wheat, corn, soybeans

2007 Package of pork industry subsidies introduced and expanded

Seed subsidy for cotton and rapeseed

Transfer payments to oilseed and pork counties

Pork, cotton, rapeseed

2008 General-input subsidy linked to input prices

Support prices for corn, soybeans, rapeseed

Strategy of raising price supports annually adopted

Soybeans, rice, wheat, corn, 

rapeseed

2009 Hog price intervention program Pork

2011 Cotton price support

Grassland protection program

Cotton

Cattle and sheep

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service compilation of materials from Chinese publications.
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OECD’s (2011) assessment through 2010 found that China’s agricultural support was approaching 

the average for developed countries, and much of the increase reflected market price support. 

Figure 2

Minimum prices for wheat and rice, 2004-13

Note: Converted to U.S. dollars at official exchange rates.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service analysis of information from China National Development and 

Reform Commission.

Dollars per metric ton

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

2004 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13

Short-grain rice

Long-grain rice

Wheat
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China’s Strategy for Increasing Agricultural Support

China’s expansion of agricultural support is driven by a complex mix of strategic and political 

considerations. At least three factors are pushing support upward: 

•	 A campaign to “modernize” agriculture by inducing adoption of modern inputs, increasing

investment, expanding scale of farms, and promoting marketing links 

•	 Concerns about rural-urban income inequality and the potential for rural unrest

•	 Concerns about maintaining “food security” and self-reliance

Chinese authorities have been intervening in agriculture since the 1980s to address such concerns, 

but expenditure on agriculture was limited in earlier decades by lack of financial resources. Farmers 

were taxed—both explicitly and through low-price commodity procurement—and farmers themselves received little of the expenditure on agriculture. In the 21st century, concerns became more 

acute and macroeconomic growth made more financial resources available. 

Concerns about the international competitiveness of Chinese agricultural producers were an important influence on China’s agricultural support strategy. At the time of WTO accession, nearly all 

of China’s farms were small plots of land producing grains—often for family subsistence. The 

quality of products was generally low and variable, and marketing systems were not well developed. 

According to Ministry of Agriculture officials (Han, 2011; Niu, 2011), China’s broad strategy was 

to insulate grain and oilseed producers from import competition while boosting exports of China’s 

most internationally competitive commodities—fruits, vegetables, and aquatic products (see box, 

“The Broad Scope of Agricultural Support in China”).

The transition to a market economy and accession to the WTO prompted Chinese officials to 

adopt indirect market intervention measures—subsidies to farmers and price supports—in place 

of measures used under central planning. When China joined WTO, officials considered support 

measures used in other countries to design measures that would conform to the country’s WTO 

obligations (Liu, Ouyang, and Zhang, 2003; Qian, 2003).3 For example, price supports and a small 

direct payment to grain producers replaced “protective price” grain procurement conducted in the 

1990s through state-owned grain marketing entities (Yuan and Su, 2009). 

There is a degree of continuity in some of China’s “new” agricultural support measures. Subsidies 

for improved seed varieties, livestock breeds, and machinery purchases introduced in the past 

decade are a continuation of efforts to disseminate these modern inputs that began during the 1980s. 

Inducements to use modern inputs were central to a strategy for support and protection of agriculture 

formulated in the 1990s (DRC, 1997). 

While Chinese officials now endorse market supply and demand as the primary forces determining 

prices and resource allocation, many practices reflect influences of central planning and traditional 

Chinese bureaucratic administration. Dozens of 5-year plans and strategic “regional layout plans” are 

formulated for each segment of agriculture. “Model” farming districts and Government-directed bank 

lending are still important policy tools. Bureaucratic structures dictate the implementation of programs, 

3China’s Minister of Agriculture noted that WTO obligations also gave officials an opportunity to push forward 

market-based reforms of grain marketing and rural taxation (Han, 2011).
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and many agribusiness entities have their roots in the planned-economy era. While commodity 

procurement has been largely privatized, the management of buffer stocks and price-support programs 

by state-owned reserve management corporations continues to play an important role in markets. 

These operations are similar to those of Government marketing bureaus in the 1990s.

The mechanism that ensures steady increases in agricultural support was set by a strategy for 

protecting and supporting agriculture formulated by the Chinese Communist Party leadership 

in 2008, which called for continually boosting subsidy payments and price floors to ensure that 

net returns to farmers remain steady from year to year (table 2). Citing a variety of objectives—

reducing the cost of improved seed varieties, improving the income distribution, raising efficiency, 

and reducing losses from natural disasters—the strategy called for continually increasing subsidy 

payments and spreading subsidies to more crops and regions, utilizing the maximum amount of 

subsidies allowed by WTO rules. The document acknowledged that prices are determined primarily 

by market forces, but its “price formation” component set numerous targets that seem to ensure 

frequent intervention in markets. The strategy called for raising agricultural prices relative to industrial prices (agricultural prices had been set at low levels to subsidize industry in past decades), 

setting minimum grain prices to ensure that farmers would earn a stable net return over production 

costs, and ensuring that all commodity prices and input prices are in balance.4

4China’s practice of setting price supports to guarantee farmers a reasonable profit is another example of continuity in 

policy. China’s WTO notification for 1996-98 described the setting of 1990s “protective prices” in the same manner. 

The Broad Scope of Agricultural Support in China

This report focuses on direct payments and price supports for grains, oilseeds, and cotton, 

which are part of a much broader array of China’s agricultural programs. Support for other 

products like livestock, horticultural crops, and aquaculture includes grants to local governments and farmers to build infrastructure, discounts for breeding services, subsidized insurance, bank loans, and favorable tax treatment for agribusiness operations. Support for these 

industries is often regionally focused and implemented by local authorities with a mix of local 

funds, block grants from the Central Government, and bank loans earmarked for the projects. 

In the 1980s and 1990s, Chinese authorities launched a “demonstration program” to improve 

livestock in pastoral regions, “lean hog production bases” in 400 counties, a “vegetable basket 

system” to improve food supplies to cities, and a “straw for ruminants” campaign to feed cattle 

and sheep on crop residues. Most of these programs still operate in various forms. Most are 

targeted at domestic food supplies, but export-oriented regional programs are also common. 

In 2012, a number of provinces designated multicounty districts as agricultural export demonstration areas that will emphasize improvements in food safety and traceability systems; many 

include multiple products, but some regional plans focus on specific items that include mushrooms, pork, poultry, strawberries, and pet food.

After China’s World Trade Organization accession, Minister of Agriculture Changfu Han (2011) 

noted that a series of plans was formulated to concentrate production of particular products in 

regions with a comparative advantage, set up food safety systems, and form links between 

farmers and agribusiness enterprises to improve competitiveness. Other programs included 

improvements in animal disease control; investment in infrastructure, science and technology; 

extension; using interest subsidies and tax waivers to attract private investment; and encouraging farmers to form cooperatives. Most of these programs are implemented by local authorities with little or no cash subsidies to farmers and no direct intervention in commodity markets. 
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Increase in Grain Subsidy Payments

Growth in subsidy payments to Chinese farmers reflects the strategy of increasing subsidies annually. Most of the growth in payments came from the “general-input subsidy” that was intended to 

offset rising production costs in order to maintain net returns to grain producers (fig. 3). From 2004 

to 2012, the direct payment to grain producers—the main component of subsidy spending in 2004—

grew marginally.5 The improved-seed subsidy was increased tenfold to $3.4 billion by adding more 

crops and extending the geographic coverage of the program. The machinery-purchase subsidy was 

increased by an even greater margin, reaching $3.1 billion in 2012. However, increase in expenditure 

on the general-input subsidy exceeded the combined growth of these other subsidies, and it was the 

dominant type of direct-subsidy expenditure in 2012.

The general-input subsidy accounted for the most of the growth in subsidy payments to farmers 

in all localities.6 In 2004, Gale, Lohmar, and Tuan (2005) found that the direct payment to grain 

producers was about $7 per acre and seed subsidies were about the same amount in most places 

(there was no general-input subsidy until 2006). A compilation of 2012 subsidy documents from 

various localities indicates that the combined total of the direct-payment and general-input subsidy 

now ranges from about $60 to over $100 per acre (table 3).

Subsidies were initially small and largely decoupled from production decisions (Jikun Huang et al., 

2011). As food security became a larger concern, officials took steps to link subsidy payments to 

5Much of the dollar-value increase reflects appreciation of the Chinese currency. Expenditure on the direct payment in 

local currency was held constant at 15.1 billion yuan during 2007-12. 

6Local authorities can choose what crops to cover, how to implement the subsidies, and provide part of the funding. 

There is no central repository of information on subsidies—the central Chinese Government had to conduct surveys of 

farmers to determine how the policies are implemented (Zhu et al., 2005; Research Center for Rural Economy (RCRE), 

2010a; RCRE, 2010b; RCRE, 2011; Guoqiang Cheng, 2011).

Table 2

China’s agricultural subsidy and price formation strategy

General objectives Strategies

Establish a complete 

subsidy system to increase 

grain output. Raise farm 

income and boost rural 

development.

Increase the amount of subsidy payments annually

Increase the scope of subsidies to cover more crops and regions

Improve methods for awarding subsidies

Improve the price formation mechanism to ensure 

farmers’ net returns rise at 

a steady rate. Maintain balance between commodities.

Raise minimum prices at a steady rate each year

Maintain balanced ratios of prices between different commodities

Maintain ratios of commodity and input prices to ensure that agricultural 

prices reflect production costs

Intervene in markets by buying and selling reserves

Adjust imports and exports using tariffs, quotas, and other methods when 

appropriate

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service analysis of Xinhua News Service, “Shiqi Jie Sanzhong Quanhui Jueding 

Jiedu: Ruhe Jianquan Nongchanpin Jiage Baohu Zhidu, Wanshan Liangshi deng Zhuyao Nongchanpin Jiage Xingcheng 

Jizhi [Interpretation of Decision of the Third Plenum of the 17th Party Congress: How to Establish a Complete Agricultural Commodity Price Protection System and Improve the Price Formation Mechanism for Grain and Major Commodities],” 

November 21, 2008.
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market conditions and production decisions. Authorities designed a “dynamic adjustment mechanism” to set the subsidy based on increases in prices of fuel, fertilizer, and pesticides—but they did 

not reveal their method. A 2009 Central Government document describing the “dynamic adjustment 

mechanism” for the general-input subsidy said the subsidy would be determined by increases in 

prices of grain, fertilizer, fuel, and other inputs to keep net returns to grain producers from falling.7

The document also declared that the input subsidy would not be reduced when input prices decline. 

Documents like the 2013 “Number 1 document” call for more improvements in the method for 

linking the general-input subsidy to input prices.

While there has been a tendency to link subsidy payments to actual production, the strength of this 

linkage varies widely since local authorities use differing methods to distribute the payments.8 In 

many places, the direct payment to grain producers is tied to actual production or sales instead of 

the “decoupled” method of basing the payment on an historical land base (used to assess agricultural 

taxes until taxes were eliminated during the early 2000s). Surveys by Jikun Huang et al. (2011), 

Huang, Wang, and Rozelle (2013), and Guoqiang Cheng (2011) found that subsidies had little or 

no relationship to farmers’ production decisions and many farmers could not recall the amounts of 

subsidies.9

The weak linkage of the direct-payment and general-input subsidies to particular commodities 

seems to reflect the initial design of the subsidies as a general entitlement to all farmers. The vast 

7The mechanism is described by Ministry of Finance, National Development and Reform Commission, and Ministry 

of Agriculture, “Guanyu Jin yi Bu Wanshan Nongzi Zonghe Butie Dongtai Diaozheng Jizhi de Shishi Yijian de Tongzhi 

(Notice on improvement in the general-input subsidy’s dynamic adjustment mechanism),” Cai Jian (2009) no. 492, August 19, 2009. An internal background report (CNDRC, 2008) offered ideas for designing the mechanism.

8The method varies by province or even locality. One report said some local officials distributed the subsidies on a perperson basis because it was easier (Hebei Province Finance Department, 2009).

9In contrast, Guoqiang Cheng (2011) reported that most farmers did know the amounts for seed subsidies.

Figure 3

Expenditure on China's four major agricultural subsidies, 2004-12

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service analysis of reports from China Ministry of Finance.

Billion dollars

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

2004 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12

General input subsidy

Direct payment to grain producers

Improved seed strains

Agricultural machinery
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majority of Chinese farmers produce grain, so linking the subsidies to grain production ensured 

broad coverage. Jikun Huang et al. (2011) found that many farmers not producing grain received 

“grain subsidies,” and they surmised that officials did not seem to target the subsidies to actual grain 

producers. While these subsidies do not apply directly to nongrain crops like rapeseed and cotton, 

most farmers who grow these crops also produce grain. The general-input subsidy payment subsidizes all the crops farmers produce to some degree. It is likely that many farmers plant nongrain 

crops on part of the historical grain-land base that determines their “grain subsidy.”

Table 3

Grain subsidy payments in selected Chinese regions, 2012

Region

Direct paymentGeneral 

input Total How determined

Dollars per acre

Hunan Province 13 78 91 Taxed area

 Double-cropped rice 21 Area planted

Shanxi Province

 Wheat 10 72 82 Area planted

 Corn and potatoes 5 53 58 Area planted

 Minor grains 24 53 77 Area planted

Zhongxiang County, Hubei

 Rice 19 56 75 Area planted

 Wheat and corn 13 56 69 Area planted

Yunmeng County, Hubei 11 50 61 Area planted

Shandong Province 14 102 116 Area planted in wheat

 Award for farms of 16 or more acres 10

Shuangcheng, Heilongjiang Province 15 43 58 Taxed area, updated

Dingxing County, Hebei Province 13 84 97 Taxed area, updated

Jiangsu Province 19 79 98 Taxed area, updated

Xuchang, Henan Province 27 93 121 Taxed area, updated

Yi County, Liaoning Province 8 53 60 NA

Xinjiang Autonomous Region

 Wheat $.032/kg 101 Sales; area planted

 Rice 16 Planted area

Xianghuang Banner, Inner Mongolia NA 62 Taxed area, updated

Ordos City, Inner Mongolia $.016/kg 38 Sales; taxed area

Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province 9 86 95 NA

Chaohu, Anhui Province 18 55 73 Taxed area; planted area

 Award for farms of 16 or more acres 10

Note: Original information converted to dollars per acre at official exchange rate for 2012. 

Kg = kilogram. NA=not available.

Source: Compiled by USDA, Economic Research Service from Chinese Government documents and news articles.
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The weak link to grain production has been criticized by many Chinese officials for failing to 

encourage grain production. As food security concerns have grown in importance, officials have 

gradually linked subsidies more closely to production. The historical land base is often updated 

to reflect current land use by deducting land no longer used for grain and adding newly cultivated 

land. The 2009 document explaining the “dynamic adjustment mechanism” urged local officials to 

distribute the general-input subsidy based on actual planting of crops. In most regions, the directpayment and general-input subsidy are distributed together, but they are distributed using different 

methods in Xinjiang and Anhui. Many local government websites now post files listing farmers 

and the area planted in each eligible grain crop to calculate subsidy payments. Financial officials in 

Shandong Province report using remote sensing technology to verify wheat area reported by farmers 

to collect subsidy payments. 

The “improvement” of subsidy methods also is reflected by a “large grain farm” subsidy offered 

by Anhui and Shandong Provinces, which gave an extra payment of 10 yuan per mu (about $10 per 

acre) to farms of 100 mu (16 acres) or more; 15 mu = 1 hectare; 6.07 mu = 1 acre.

This type of subsidy was implemented by various provinces after the 2008 “decision” on rural 

policy encouraged local officials to explore ways of consolidating farmland into larger operations. 

An ERS review of lists of “large” grain farm subsidy recipients from Sichuan Province and several 

prefectures in Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Anhui Provinces found that the number of recipients was relatively small, and the size and amount of payments varied widely. Some provinces also give “award” 

payments to farmers who consolidate plots of land into an operation of a certain size. 

“Large” farms are still a small proportion of farms in China but they are becoming more common. 

In a survey of 220 farms, Guoqiang Cheng (2011) found 5 “large farms” with an average of 170 

acres, and each farm had nearly doubled its size in 1 year. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 

China had 2.7 million “large farms” of 100 mu or larger in 2012.10

Expanded Coverage of Improved Seed Subsidy

Expenditure on the subsidy for improved seeds grew by expanding the crop and regional coverage 

of the program. The seed subsidy began with soybeans in northeastern provinces during 2002. By 

2010, seed subsidies were offered for nine major crops (table 4). In contrast to the general-input 

subsidy, the seed-subsidy payment level remained constant for most crops (payments were raised 

for certain types of rice) and is generally the same in each region. The subsidy of 10 yuan per mu 

planted for most crops was approximately equal to $10 per acre in 2012. Surveys by the Ministry 

of Agriculture found that nearly all farmers received seed subsidies (RCRE, 2010a; RCRE, 2011).11

Guoqiang Cheng (2011) estimated that seed subsidies received by farmers equaled about 20 percent 

of seed costs for wheat and corn, 40 percent for rapeseed and cotton and 30 to 50 percent for 

different types of rice.

The seed subsidy illustrates the ambiguity of program objectives and how they change over time. 

The subsidy for improved seed was initially aimed at inducing adoption of a “modern” input. It was 

paid to seed companies that were to supply seeds to farmers. However, allegations of corruption, 

abuse, and lack of benefit for farmers resulted in the seed subsidy being converted to a cash payment 

10This is about 1.4 percent of the 200 million farming operations reported by China’s 2006 agricultural census.

11There are similar subsidies for improved breeds of swine, cattle, and sheep; funds are distributed to propagation 

farms and breeding stations to fund discounted artificial inseminations.
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to farmers in most places (Guo and Zhang, 2010; Investors News, 2012; Tong, 2011; Huang, Wang, 

and Rozelle, 2013). One Chinese Government study commented that the seed subsidy is now indistinguishable from other grain-subsidy payments (Guoqiang Cheng, 2011). Seed subsidies for rapeseed, peanuts, and cotton are often portrayed as production incentives and are often referred to as 

“cotton subsidies” or “rapeseed subsidies.”12

Production Costs Outpaced Increase in Subsidies 

Gale, Lohmar, and Tuan (2005) estimated that the 2004 subsidy payments were relatively small—

equal to $2 to $5 per metric ton of grain and less than 2 percent of the gross value of grain output. 

Huang, Wang, and Rozelle (2013) estimated that grain subsidies were equal to $34 per acre in 

2008 and said they were similar to per-acre payments received by farmers in the U.S. Midwest. 

ERS calculations using subsidy information for 2012 indicate that Chinese subsidies are now much 

higher, consistent with the increase in budgeted expenditure for subsidy programs. Based on calculations from subsidy announcements shown in tables 3 and 4, ERS calculated that subsidy payments 

for wheat were highest per ton and as a proportion of output value, at $43-$53 per metric ton and 

12A Ministry of Agriculture survey found that 65 percent of cotton farmers said seed subsidies motivated them to plant 

more cotton (Du, 2012).

Table 4

China’s subsidy for improved strains of seed

Crop

Year 

initiated Amount Regional coverage

Yuan per mu

Soybeans 2002 10 4 northeastern provinces

Wheat 2003 10 5 provinces 2003; nationwide since 2010. 15 yuan/mu in 

Xinjiang autonomous region.

Rice* 2004 15 7 provinces 2004-06; nationwide since 2010

Corn 2004 10 8 provinces 2004-07; nationwide since 2010

Natural rubber 2006 ** 8 prefectures/counties in 3 provinces

Rapeseed 2007 10 10 provinces and districts of two others

Cotton 2007 15 8 provinces in 2007; nationwide since 2010

Potato*** 2009 100 Seed potato producers in pilot areas

Peanuts 2010 10 12 provinces; 50 yuan per mu for seed producers

Highland 

barley 2010 10 Tibet and ethnic Tibetan regions of 4 provinces

Yuan = Chinese currency; mu = 1/15 hectare.

*Initially, the subsidy was 10 yuan for early-season indica rice, 7 yuan for the late-season crop, and 15 yuan for singleseason indica or japonica rice. Now the subsidy is 15 yuan for each kind of rice. 

**3 yuan per plant for bags of seed; 1 yuan per plant for root stock. 

***0.1 yuan for potato eyes.

Types of seed—soybean: high-oil content; corn: for silage, high-starch and high-oil for industrial use; wheat: high- and 

low-gluten; rapeseed: “double low” content of glucosinolate and euricic acid. Peanut varieties are described as highyielding and having high oil content. For details, see http://nys.mof.gov.cn/zhengfuxinxi/zcjd/200807/t20080730_59660.

html

Source: Compiled by USDA, Economic Research Service from Song (2010), Chinese documents, and news media. 
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13 to 15 percent of the gross value of output (table 5).

13 Rice and corn subsidies were equal to $24 

to $37 per metric ton and 7 to 10 percent of gross value of output. These figures are consistent with 

the Chinese Ministry of Finance’s announcement that total 2012 subsidy payments were equal to 

$44 per metric ton of grain produced.14 Nongrain crops still received only minor payments, mainly 

because the general-input subsidy (the largest payment) only applies to grain production. Subsidies 

were equal to $11 per metric ton for rapeseed and $32 per metric ton for cotton but only 1 percent of 

the value of output. 

While subsidies increased rapidly, they were outpaced by increases in production costs. According 

to China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) data, average cash expenses 

rose during 2003-11 by $190 to $220 per acre for corn, wheat, and long-grain rice, and expenses 

rose by nearly $400 per acre for short-grain rice (fig. 4). These increases in production expenses far 

exceeded the increase in subsidy payments during that period. 

Most discussion of farm support in China focuses on increases in cash expenses for inputs like fertilizer and fuel, but the increase in production costs was more broadly based. NDRC’s estimates show 

that the implicit cost of unpaid family labor was the dominant component of farm production costs. 

13The high ratio of subsidies for wheat reflects partly the strategic significance of wheat but also the practice of growing winter wheat followed by summer corn in northern China. Shandong, for example, gives a subsidy based only on 

winter wheat area.

14The Ministry of Finance reported subsidies were 0.14 yuan per 500 grams of grain output. The subsidy calculations 

reported here are also consistent with subsidy income for 2010-12 reported by local branches of China’s National Development and Reform Commission. Surveys of farmers by Guoqiang Cheng (2011), RCRE (2011), and various local price 

bureau surveys confirm that subsidies received by farmers were similar in magnitude to the amounts calculated here.

Table 5

Estimated subsidy payments for various crops and provinces, 2012

 - - - - - - - - - Estimated subsidy total - - - - - - - - - - 

Crop Province Per acre Per metric ton

As share of value 

of crop

Dollars per acre Dollars per 

metric ton Percent

Double-cropped rice Hunan 141 29 7

Single-crop rice Hunan 105 30 8

Single-crop rice Jiangsu 112 37 9

Single-crop rice Hubei 89 25 6

Wheat Shandong 125 47 15

Wheat Shanxi 92 53 14

Wheat Hubei 79 43 13

Wheat Henan 130 48 15

Corn Heilongjiang 68 24 7

Corn Hebei 106 36 10

Corn Shanxi 67 25 7

Cotton Shandong 14 32 1

Rapeseed Hubei 10 11 1

Note: Includes direct-payment, general-input, and seed subsidies as shown in tables 3 and 4. 

Source: Estimated by USDA, Economic Research Service based on subsidy rates announced by local governments, 

price supports and average yields. 
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The imputed cost of family labor rose from $94 per acre to $244 per acre during 2003-11, a reflection of rising wages and opportunity costs of farm labor (fig. 5).15 Other inputs that were the object 

15According to the NDRC survey, the average grain farm used 39 days of family labor and 2 days of hired labor per 

acre in 2011. NDRC’s labor cost estimates appear to be conservative since they use wages that are much lower than the 

migrant wages reported by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (2012).

Note: Original data in Chinese yuan per mu converted to dollars per acre using the official exchange rate for 

corresponding years.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service analysis of data from National Development and Reform Commission.

Figure 4

Cash expenses for producing grains, 2000-11 

Dollars per acre

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

2000 02 04 06 08 10

Short grain rice

Long grain rice

Corn

Wheat

subsidies began

Figure 5

Major components of China grain production costs, 2000-11

Note: Original data in Chinese yuan per mu converted to dollars per acre using the official exchange rate for corresponding

years. The cost categories shown are not exhaustive.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service analysis of data from National Development and Reform Commission.

Dollars per acre

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Family labor

Chemical fertilizer

Mechanized services

Seed

2000 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11
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of subsidy programs—seeds and mechanized services—also contributed to increases in production costs. The increase in these implicit costs far exceeded the value of subsidy payments (see box, 

“Machinery Purchase Subsidy as a Modernization Measure”).

Growth in off-farm work opportunities poses the biggest challenge to maintaining agricultural output. 

As prospective off-farm wages rise, farmers require higher net returns to induce them to continue 

planting crops or raising livestock. China’s National Bureau of Statistics reported that 262.6 million 

rural people were employed off-farm for at least 6 months in 2012, up from 225 million in 2008.16

16China National Bureau of Statistics, “Progress in National Economic Development in 2012,” January 2013, http://

www.stats.gov.cn/tjfx/jdfx/t20130118_402867146.htm. By comparison, China’s agricultural census estimated that 339 

million people were engaged in agriculture in 2006.

Machinery Purchase Subsidy as a Modernization Measure

In contrast to grain payments and seed subsidies, the machinery subsidy in China is almost 

exclusively a “modernization” measure. In contrast to grain subsidies, which have been spread 

widely over the rural population, the machinery subsidy is received by only 2 to 3 percent 

of farmers annually since few make large equipment purchases (RCRE, 2010; RCRE, 2011). 

Purchasers receive a 30-percent discount on a national list of approved equipment. The list 

includes hundreds of items such as tractors, harvesting, tillage, and seeding equipment, and 

a wide variety of other equipment. The machinery subsidy was expanded by including more 

types of equipment and offering it in more regions. Increased expenditure on the machinery 

subsidy reflects the Chinese Government’s view that mechanization is an important means of 

“modernizing” agriculture and improving productivity. 

Guoqiang Cheng (2011) reported that some farmers purchased machinery to facilitate largescale operations, while others bought machines to offer custom services to other farmers. 

Cheng surmised that the main benefits were reductions in hired labor costs, and improved 

labor productivity. Mechanization potentially can raise productivity by reducing time needed 

for key agricultural tasks, thus facilitating earlier planting, later harvest, or double-cropping. 

The machinery subsidy is integrated into many specific campaigns for promoting conservation 

tillage; improving milk supply chains; and promoting drying of grain, irrigation programs, 

recovery from natural disasters, and even public health programs. 

A description of the machinery purchase program’s implementation in a prefecture in Inner 

Mongolia reveals that local officials play an active role in inducing farmers to mechanize 

(Shuai Wang 2011). Farmers in this district initially showed little interest in corn harvesters 

and many were dissatisfied with poor-quality equipment. Only 13 percent of local corn was 

harvested mechanically in 2010, after a 10-year campaign to induce farmers to mechanize. In 

order to boost utilization of the machinery subsidy, promotion of the use of mechanical corn 

harvesters was included in job ratings for township officials, local funds were added to Central 

Government subsidy funds, farmers were instructed to space rows of corn to accommodate 

mechanical harvesters, and officials ordered companies to supply training and repair services. 

According to another report from the local mechanization bureau, the share of corn mechanically harvested in the prefecture doubled to 27 percent in 2012, an increase attributed to both 

the subsidy and rapid increases in labor costs.
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China National Bureau of Statistics (2012) reported that rural nonfarm workers’ average monthly 

nonfarm wages rose from $193 to $363 between 2008 and 2012, an 88-percent increase (fig. 6).17

Raising Price Supports

Chinese authorities describe support prices mainly as a measure for shielding farmers from transitory declines in price. State-owned reserve corporations use commodity reserves as a buffer stock—

purchasing commodities when market prices fall to the floor price, storing and selling them at 

auctions during periods during periods of rising prices. 

However, as production costs outpaced subsidies, officials began to increase price supports more 

aggressively as a means of supporting farmers’ income and influencing production incentives.18

Guoqiang Cheng (2011) described the strategy of steadily raising price supports as a measure that 

stimulates production and protects farmers’ interest. Chinese officials cited their early announcement of increases in minimum grain prices that sent a “strong signal to encourage production” as 

one of the factors increasing grain output in 2012.19 A Peoples Daily (2013) commentary on rural 

policy called for utilizing price supports and reserve management to maintain steady increases in 

farm prices that rise faster than production costs.

17In practice, there is a household division of labor that reflects differing opportunity costs for different members of 

Chinese households. Young adults are most likely to work off-farm while elderly family members are most likely to 

remain in the village and engage in farming. 

18When polled about policy preferences, farmers often endorse price supports as a means of increasing their income. 

For example, Du, Zhang, and Liu (2011) reported that 78 percent of cotton farmers they surveyed hoped the Government 

would introduce a price support. They also cited a specific objective of supporting incomes of poor northwestern regions.

19China National Bureau of Statistics, “2012 Nian Quanguo Liangshi Shengchan Zai Huo Feng Shou [Grain 

Production Obtains Another Abundant Harvest in 2012],” November 30, 2012, http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjfx/fxbg/

t20121130_402855454.htm

Note: Data from a survey of 200,000 rural people who engage in nonfarm employment at least 6 months of the year. 

Earnings in yuan converted to U.S. dollars at official exchange rates.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service compilation of China National Bureau of Statistics survey reports.

Figure 6

Average monthly earnings from nonfarm employment by Chinese rural residents

Dollars

193

207

250

317

363

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
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Chinese authorities increased minimum prices for major commodities each year after the “price 

formation” strategy was announced in 2008. Authorities do not reveal how support prices are 

determined, but documents indicate that prices are set based on production costs, prices of related 

commodities, and general market conditions. Cumulative increases in price supports (converted to 

U.S. dollars) from 2008 to 2013 were 30 percent for rapeseed, 63 percent for wheat, 66 to 69 percent 

for corn, and 92 to 105 percent for different types of rice (table 6).

The role of price supports in determining the prevailing price of commodities in China varies by 

commodity and year (Chao Zhang, 2012). Guoqiang Cheng (2011) surmised that the support price 

was the main determinant of the market price for wheat. 

Rice prices received by producers exceeded the minimum in most years, suggesting that market 

prices exceeded the minimum (table 7). However, for soybeans, rapeseed, corn, and cotton, producer 

prices were usually below the support price, suggesting a more important role in those markets (see 

box, “Do Farmers Receive the Support Price?”). Wheat prices generally exceeded the minimum, 

but authorities purchased large volumes of wheat at minimum prices in most years.20 During early 

2009—a period when all prices fell sharply—authorities purchased large volumes to support prices 

of wheat, rice, corn, soybeans, and rapeseed (Chen, 2009; Xu, Xi, and Zhang, 2010). 

Support price purchases account for a relatively small share of grain produced in most years, but 

Government-sponsored entities still appear to play a major role in grain and cotton markets despite 

20There were no support-price purchases of wheat in 2011 (Xi, 2011).

Table 6

China support prices for major commodities

Year

White 

wheat

Early 

long 

grain 

rice

Middle-late 

long grain rice

Short 

grain rice Corn**

SoybeansRapeseed Cotton

Dollars per metric ton

2004 169 174 181

2005 171 176 183

2006 181 176 181 189

2007 189 184 189 197

2008 222 222 227 236 216 518 633

2009 255 264 269 278 220 548 542

2010 266 275 287 310 263-275 561 576

2011 294 316 331 396 303-309 619 712 3,063

2012 323 380 396 444 333-339 729 793 3,234

2013 361 426 435 484 358-365 NA 823 3,290

Percent

Cumulative 

increase, 

2008-13 63 92 92 105 66-69 NA 30 NA

Note: converted to U.S. dollars at official exchange rate. 

**Price varies by province.

Source: Calculations by USDA, Economic Research Service using announcements by China National Development and 

Reform Commission.
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the reform of the grain market in 2004. Purchases of grain for Government reserves financed by the 

Government’s policy bank—Agricultural Development Bank of China (ADBC)—rose in 2005-06 

after the price support for wheat was introduced and peaked at 38 percent of all grain produced in 

2008. During 2011 and 2012, ADBC reported financing 26 to 27 percent of grain produced. ADBC 

reported financing 60 percent of cotton sold during 2012. 

China’s price-support strategy has a more subtle influence by locking in a trend of rising domestic 

prices. The core of the strategy is an assurance to farmers that authorities will not allow prices to 

fall. This builds in expectations of ever-rising prices and encourages market participants to hold 

commodities as long as possible. Authorities consciously attempt to form price expectations by 

announcing wheat, rice, and cotton support prices before planting decisions are made (September for 

wheat, February-March for rice and cotton), approximately 6 to 9 months before the harvest. Corn, 

soybean, and rapeseed price supports are not announced until after the harvest, but news media 

often report that producers of these commodities speculate about the anticipated price support when 

deciding to sell their crop. 

Subsidies to grain depots for the cost of holding reserves purchased at support prices also tend to 

prevent market prices from falling. Grain depots hold reserves until the grain can be sold into the 

market at a price that exceeds the purchase price plus storage costs.21 The Government encourages holding grain in reserves by subsidizing interest and storage costs of grain purchased under 

price-support programs. The share of grain purchased with subsidized loans from the Government’s 

Agricultural Development Bank of China increased as price-support programs were used more 

actively. Grain purchased with such policy loans exceeded 25 percent of grain produced in most 

years from 2005 to 2012 and reached 38 percent in 2008 (fig. 7). According to some news media 

reports, many enterprises holding wheat purchased at minimum prices earn all of their profits from 

subsidies for interest and storage costs and therefore hold as much grain as possible. Government 

authorities schedule auctions of stockpiled commodities and offer larger volumes during periods 

21The minimum auction price is determined by the purchase price plus storage costs (excluding subsidized interest on 

loans), referred to as the “shun jia xiao shou” principle by Chinese officials (Cheng, 2011)

Table 7

Difference between average farm price and support price, by commodity

Commodity Region 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Percent

Early rice Hunan 1.4 8.6 13.9 -0.6 5.4 15.7

Middle rice National 2.7 14.6 17.1 2.7 12.6 21.4

Late rice National 13.4 25.4 25.4 7.9 23.7 30.4

Short grain rice National 19.7 16.1 13.9 11.4 30.3 11.9

Wheat Henan 0.1 3.9 6.1 7.2 7.4 6.3

Corn Jilin NA NA -6.4 0.9 -3.6 6.1

Soybeans Heilongjiang NA NA -1.2 -3.3 -2.6 0.0

Rapeseed Hubei NA NA 13.2 -8.5 -3.9 -3.9

Cotton National NA NA NA NA NA -8.8

Average farm price is average reported by farmers in NDRC cost of production survey.

NA=no support price.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service calculations using data from China National Development and Reform 

Commission.
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Do Farmers Receive the Support Price?

According to Chinese Government statistics, 6 percent of grain produced was purchased at 

support prices during 2012, and officials said that market interventions increased farmers’ 

income by $5.5 billion (see table below). However, the role of China’s price-support programs 

is unclear, since many surveys indicate that few farmers sell grain at support prices. 

In past years, Chinese farmers traveled to centralized depots, where they waited in line to 

sell their grain. But now numerous traders and brokers go door to door in villages offering to 

purchase grain from farmers. Annual grain marketing surveys by local branches of China’s 

National Development and Reform Commission and news media reports indicate that farmers 

overwhelmingly prefer to sell to these traders to avoid the cost and inconvenience of transporting grain to depots. Farmers engaged in off-farm jobs, in particular, have little time to 

devote to marketing their grain. 

Depots operated by China’s official grain-reserve corporation (and its agents) are the only 

outlets authorized to purchase grain at support prices, and many counties have only a few such 

depots. Xi (2011) reported that farmers had little interest in selling grain to state grain depots 

and often did not know where the nearest one was located, a finding reflected in a number of 

news media reports. 

Some farmers who do sell to the authorized depot may receive less than the minimum price 

because prices are discounted for lower quality grades. Commodities that fail to meet minimum 

standards may be rejected by depots, sold to private traders at a low price, or retained on the 

producing farm. However, grades are not enforced uniformly, and there are reports of poorquality grain and cotton held in government reserves. 

Surveys showing that farmers overwhelmingly sell to private traders also seem inconsistent 

with the large proportion of grain purchases by state-owned grain enterprises reported in official statistics. Xu, Xi, and Zhang (2010) suggested that farmers failed to benefit fully from the 

price support because they sold corn below the minimum price to traders who subsequently 

sold the corn to state-owned depots. They also reported some instances of merchants who transported grain from other regions to sell to state-owned depots at the minimum price.

China grain production and purchases, 2012

Item Amount Share of production

Million metric tons Percent

Grain production 590 100

All grain purchased by enterprises 314 53

Purchased by state-owned enterprise 

purchases 131 22

Price-support purchases 38 6

Note: “Grain” includes cereals, soybeans, and dry weight of tubers.

Source: Calculated by USDA, Economic Research Service using data from Xinhua News Service,

January 22, 2013.
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of rising prices or peak demand. However, a minimum bid is established for auction sales, and few 

transactions are executed in most auctions because no one is willing to pay the minimum bid.

Raising the price support for one commodity can influence other commodities through crosscommodity price relationships. For example, the increase in the wheat support price announced 

in September each year is viewed as a benchmark for forming expectations about increases in 

other commodity prices. Wheat and rice support prices are considerations in setting support prices 

for other commodities. An increase in the corn price raises the profitability of corn production 

compared with soybeans which, in turn, induces officials to increase the price support for soybeans. 

A higher price of corn also increases the cost of animal feed, which is passed on as higher livestock 

prices and an increase in soybeans, rapeseed, or peanuts may be passed on in higher vegetable oil 

prices. The corn price influences pork policy since authorities intervene in pork markets when the 

hog-corn price ratio falls to a low level.

China’s strategy of maintaining steady growth in prices is exemplified by the pattern in wheat 

prices during 2007-12 (fig. 8). The price support was raised each year, but it was below the 

average market price to varying degrees. The relative stability of the Chinese wheat price is 

evident in its sustained growth at a gradual pace from 2007 to 2012 compared with the greater 

fluctuation in the U.S. price. The Chinese wheat price was insulated from both sharp increases 

and declines displayed by the U.S. price. 

Soybean prices in Heilongjiang—China’s main production region—generally moved in tandem with 

U.S. prices (fig. 9). In contrast to the wheat market, which was insulated from the world market, Chinese 

soybean prices reflected the surge in U.S. prices during 2007-08. In late 2008, a “temporary reserve” 

price-support program was introduced for soybeans to mitigate the decline in prices during that period. 

From 2009 to 2012, soybean support prices were raised steadily each year in a pattern similar to that for 

Figure 7

Share of grain purchased using loans from Agricultural Development Bank of China

Note: Chart shows grain purchased for government reserves with loans from Agricultural Development Bank of China 

(ADBC) as share of all grain produced. 

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service calculations using data from ADBC annual reports and China National Bureau 

of Statistics. 

Percent

25

23

21 21

26

32 31

38

33

22

26 27

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
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wheat. The Chinese price followed the general upward trend in U.S. prices but did not display as much 

volatility as U.S. prices.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service analysis of data from China National Grain and Oils Information Center, 

China National Development and Reform Commission, and USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. 

Figure 8

China wheat price support and market price, 2004-13

Dollars per bushel

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Support price

Market price 

(Shandong province)

U.S. farm price

(Winter wheat) 

Figure 9

China soybean price support and market price, 2004-12

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service analysis of data from China National Grain and Oils Information Center, 

China National Development and Reform Commission, and USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Dollars per bushel

0

5

10

15

20

25

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

China market price 

(Heilongjiang Province)

U.S. farm price

(Illinois soybeans)

Support

 price
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While officials seem to have stabilized domestic prices to some degree, the rising trend in Chinese 

prices—combined with appreciation of China’s currency—has eroded the price-competitiveness of 

Chinese commodities. Huang, Liu, Martin, and Rozelle (2009) documented a narrowing between 

Chinese and world prices by the mid-2000s. However, Chinese prices of most major agricultural 

commodities are now relatively high compared with global prices. In 2011, Chinese farm prices of 

grains, soybeans, rapeseed, cotton, and hogs exceeded U.S. farm prices by margins that ranged from 

20 percent for wheat to 84 percent for live hogs (table 8). 

With Chinese domestic prices now at or above world prices, continued increases in prices may 

push Chinese prices higher than world prices. OECD (2011) reported that much of China’s 

increase in domestic support reflected the rising of Chinese prices above world prices. Cheng’s 

(2011) estimates (using the OECD methodology) displayed a dramatic increase in market price 

support in 2009 and 2010. 

Table 8

China-U.S. difference in farm prices, by commodity, 2003-11

Year Corn Wheat

Rice 

(long 

grain)

Rice 

(short 

grain) Soybeans Rapeseed* Cotton Hogs

Percent

2003 32 8 -20 -25 31 -17 30 -1

2004 70 43 13 29 60 4 34 -1

2005 70 33 9 4 50 7 46 -15

2006 31 14 -11 -15 33 -4 43 -4

2007 17 -17 -20 -29 46 10 28 68

2008 28 -5 -19 -51 44 53 39 86

2009 69 50 -3 -23 52 25 37 75

2010 34 39 33 -2 37 28 100 46

2011 32 20 36 22 36 32 32 84

Average,

2003-11 43 21 2 -10 43 15 43 38

Note: Positive values indicate China price is higher than U.S. price. Chinese prices were converted to U.S. dollars at the 

official exchange rate.

*Shows difference between China and Canada price.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service calculations using prices from China National Development and Reform 

Commission cost of production survey and USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service prices received by farmers.
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Continued Expansion of Support

Chinese agricultural officials describe the current level of support as low in comparison with that 

of developed countries, and they promise to continue increasing support (Xu, 2011; Niu, 2011). The 

“Number 1 Document” issued by China’s communist party leadership in 2013 called for stronger 

support of agriculture in a period of “high cost, high input, and high risk,” endorsing continued 

increases in subsidies and price supports. The document also encouraged structural change in agriculture to increase the scale of farms and called for measures to increase investment in fixed assets 

and improve the quality of inputs. 

WTO Limits on Domestic Support

WTO limits on trade-distorting “amber box” domestic support measures have influenced the types 

of support programs offered by encouraging Chinese officials to focus expenditure on programs that 

are exempt from limits (see box, “World Trade Organization Calculations of Domestic Agricultural 

Support” for more information on WTO definitions of “amber box,” “green box”). In its 2004-08 

WTO notifications, China’s “Aggregate Measurement of Support” (AMS) showed that both productspecific and nonproduct-specific amber box support were well below the de minimis limit. When 

calling for further increases in support, Chinese officials and policy advisors often note that China 

is well within the limits imposed by its WTO commitments. For example, a Chinese vice minister 

of agriculture explained that China fully utilized WTO rules to support agriculture by increasing 

“green box” support and adjusting methods of support to remain within limits on amber box support 

(Niu, 2011). A speech by another Ministry of Agriculture official in 2013 called for increasing 

support each year until it reaches the de minimis limit.22

An analysis of China’s 2005-08 WTO notification indicated that China used several key strategies to 

remain within its 8.5-percent ceiling on support:23

•	 Most support was reported as “green box programs,” including infrastructure expenditures,

disaster mitigation and recovery, extension, aid to low-income regions, decoupled direct payments 

to grain producers, and classified expenses for public stockholding reserves for food security as 

green box. The green-box total of $85 billion reported for 2008 was equal to 11.2 percent of the 

value of agricultural output.

•	 The general-input subsidy payment appears to have been reported as nonproduct-specific support

in the 2006-08 support calculations.24 In 2008, China’s total nonproduct-specific support was less 

than 1.5 percent of the value of all agricultural production. 

22Keming Qian, “Jin yi bu wanshan Zhongguo tese Xiandaihua Nongye Zhengce Zhichi Tixi [Further Improve China’s 

System for Modern Agriculture Policy Support],” speech to National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, March 7, 2013.

23China’s 2005-08 notification was submitted in 2011 and is available at http://www.wtocenter.org.tw/SmartKMS/do/

www/readDoc?document_id=117481

24China’s 2005-08 notifications of nonproduct-specific AMS (table DS:9) consists mainly of “input subsidies” which 

seem to correspond to the value of the “general-input subsidy.”
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World Trade Organization Calculations of Domestic Agricultural 

Support

The WTO Agreement on Agriculture classifies domestic agricultural support in so-called 

“green box” and “amber box” categories based largely on their potential to distort trade (see 

table below).1 “Green box” measures are those that have minimal or no trade- or productiondistorting effects and they are not limited by WTO rules. “Amber box” measures—such as 

direct payments tied to production and price supports—that do have trade- or productiondistorting effects are the target of WTO disciplines. Amber box support is further classified 

into product-specific and non-product-specific support (see table below). 

Product-specific support includes budgetary expenditures and the value of market price support 

(MPS) that is tied to the production and/or prices of a specific product. For purposes of the 

WTO, MPS is calculated as the gap between the administered price and a fixed external reference price multiplied by the quantity of production eligible to receive the applied administered 

price. Non-product-specific support includes any other budgetary expenditures that are not 

contingent upon the production of any specific commodity.

Amber box support is measured and disciplined by the aggregate measurement of support 

(AMS). China’s final bound AMS commitment was set at zero; therefore, the maximum level of 

amber box support permitted in China is at the de minimis level. China’s WTO accession agreement set a de minimis level at 8.5 percent of the value of production for trade-distorting support. 

(Following lengthy negotiations, China’s de minimis was set midway between the 5-percent 

ceiling for developed countries and the 10-percent ceiling usually specified for developing countries.) If product-specific support for a product is less than 8.5 percent of the product’s value, it is 

exempt from inclusion in the calculations of the AMS. The sum of non-product-specific support 

is exempt if it is less than 8.5 percent of the value of total agricultural output. 

Categories of domestic agricultural support and limits specified by World Trade 

Organization for China

Categories Examples Limit

Minimally trade-distorting 

“green box” measures

Budgetary expenditure on infrastructure, 

science and technology, disaster mitigation, payments de-coupled from production decisions

Exempt from limits

Product-specific “amber 

box” support

Payments linked to production

Value of market price support (MPS) = 

(Price support - external reference price) 

x eligible production

de minimis exemption of 

8.5 percent of the value of 

output for each product

Non-product-specific 

“amber box” support

Payments not linked to specific products de minimis exemption of 

8.5 percent of value of all 

agricultural output

1There is also a “blue box” (i.e., production limiting support), but China has no programs in this category. 

There is also a “Special and Differential” category (i.e., certain amber-box exemptions for developing countries), 

which China does not have access to per China’s WTO accession agreement.
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•	 Subsidies for improved seed strains and sow subsidies were the only payments to farmers

reported as product-specific support, but these expenditures were less than 1 percent of value of 

production for each commodity. 

•	 Product-specific support included large negative values for rice and wheat market price support

because price supports were below external reference prices.25

Through 2008, China relied on “green box” domestic support measures and minimized productspecific support to remain within WTO limits. High external reference prices minimized the 

calculated value of market price support. 

The classification of the direct payment as decoupled is questionable since these payments are based 

on area planted and grain marketed in many regions.26 However, acknowledging that the direct 

payment is coupled would have little impact on the support calculation. The payment would likely be 

declared as nonproduct-specific support, and the expenditure was less than 0.3 percent of the value 

of agricultural output. 

The general-input subsidy is the largest payment to farmers, so its treatment is an important component 

of the support calculation. Chinese authorities appear to have acknowledged that the general-input 

subsidy is coupled to production by reporting it as nonproduct-specific support. Both the directpayment and general-input subsidy are based on “grain” production—the actual commodities covered 

vary from place to place, and in some provinces area planted in multiple grain crops determines the 

amount of payments.27 Central Government authorities issued a 2009 document urging provinces to 

link the general-input subsidy to “grain” production, but the subsidies are not tied to particular crops 

de jure on a national basis. There are no records or data to assign subsidy payment totals to particular 

commodities. Reporting the general-input subsidy as nonproduct-specific support dilutes its value in 

the AMS calculation. “Input subsidies” accounted for nearly all nonproduct-specific support in China’s 

2008 notification, which totaled 1.49 percent of the value of agricultural output. 

The value of market price support reported through 2008 was negative for rice and wheat, the only 

two commodities for which price support was notified (see box, “Measuring Market Price Support,” 

p. 26). China’s WTO accession agreement specifies 1996-98 import or export prices as the base 

period for external reference prices for China. In those years, the reference prices exceeded Chinese 

farm prices by approximately 50 percent for rice and 22 percent for wheat (due to the higher valueadded of traded commodities versus farmgate prices and China’s practice of pricing grains below 

world prices at that time).28 Wheat and rice price supports were still below their 1996-98 external 

reference values in 2008. Thus, China was able to report negative values for market price support, 

which offset other product-specific support and resulted in overall negative product-specific support 

reported for wheat and rice.

25Cotton’s AMS also included costs of reserve management and transportation subsidies but the AMS never exceeded 

3.3 percent of cotton output value during 2005-08.

26Jikun Huang et al. (2011) and Guoqiang Cheng (2011) surmised that subsidy payments have little or no de facto 

impact on producer decisions. However, WTO notifications are based on de jure criteria. The adjustment of the acreage 

base and requirement that recipients produce grain seem to violate the stipulation that green-box measures be unrelated 

to current production (Fuzhi Cheng, 2011). 

27Grain crops account for less than 15 percent of the value of China’s agricultural output.

28Huang, Liu, Martin, and Rozelle (2009) found that domestic rice prices were below border prices during the 1990s, 

but their results suggest that wheat prices exceeded the border price during that period.
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The increase in China’s budgetary expenditure for agricultural support since the country’s latest 

(2008) notification of domestic support is not likely to affect China’s WTO commitments if the 

same types of programs are reported. Increases in budgetary expenditure were predominantly in 

green-box programs likely to be exempt from support calculations. The value of seed subsidies and 

other product-specific support such as transport subsidies for rice, corn, and cotton has increased 

only marginally. The general-input subsidy—the largest direct payment—is likely to be notified as 

nonproduct-specific, and its value equaled less than 1.5 percent of the value of agricultural output 

in 2012. Nonproduct-specific support is likely to remain within de minimis limits since the generalinput subsidy is the primary expenditure reported in this category. 

China’s practice of increasing support prices is more likely to violate the country’s ceiling on 

domestic agricultural support. Wheat and rice support prices now have been raised above the 

external reference prices. In 2012, the wheat support price exceeded the reference price by 22 

percent (fig. 10). The indica rice support price was still less than its reference price in 2012, but the 

japonica support price exceeded the reference price by 9 percent. Since the 2004-08 notifications, 

support prices have been introduced for corn, soybeans, and rapeseed (2008-09) and cotton (2011), 

and exceeded 1996-98 reference prices by 40 to 115 percent in 2012. 

The value of market price support (MPS) was also reduced by including only the volume of 

commodities actually purchased at the price support in the MPS calculation. Orden, Blandford, and 

Josling (2011) note that the quantity of output “eligible” to receive price supports is ambiguous—

some countries consider all output as eligible, while China and other countries consider only the 

amount purchased at the price support as eligible. Using the amount purchased at price supports, 

ERS estimates that market price support equaled 3 percent of the value of output for wheat and 6 

percent of the value of rapeseed in 2012 (table 9).29 Data on support price purchases were not available for rice and corn, but market news reports indicated that small volumes were purchased at 

support prices, so the market price support calculation is likely to remain below the product-specific 

de minimis for those crops. 

29The market price support calculation increases to 8 percent of the value of output if total wheat marketed is considered “eligible” and 17 percent if all wheat produced is considered “eligible.”

Measuring Market Price Support 

The World Trade Organization (WTO) measure of market price support (MPS) was designed to 

discipline member countries’ use of price-support policies. The MPS is determined by calculating 

the difference between a country’s administered price and a fixed external reference price, and 

multiplying that difference by the volume of output eligible to receive the administered price. 

Since the reference price is fixed, raising the price support tends to increase the MPS. 

The MPS differs from measures like the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and 

Development’s (OECD) producer support estimate (PSE) that are designed to monitor the 

degree of actual market distortion (Orden, Blandford, and Josling, 2011). PSE-type measures 

compare domestic market prices with contemporaneous global or border prices, capturing the 

effects of domestic policies as well as tariffs, quotas, and other limits on imports that may boost 

prices above global prices (see, for example, Jikun Huang, et al., 2009; and OECD, 2011). The 

WTO MPS does not take into account actual current-year market prices.
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China appears to have exceeded its product-specific de minimis for cotton in 2011 and 2012 due to 

the country’s large purchases of cotton at a high support price. China’s cotton reserve corporation 

reported purchasing amounts equal to 47 percent of 2011/12 cotton output and over 90 percent of the 

2012/13 crop at support prices.30 The cotton support price exceeded the external reference price by 

36 percent in 2011/12 and 40 percent in 2012/13 (fig. 11). Using China’s definition of eligible production, ERS calculates that cotton market price support exceeded the de minimis—over 12 percent of 

value of cotton output during 2011/12 and 27 percent during 2012/13. Data on other cotton-specific 

30The Agricultural Development Bank of China reported financing cotton purchases totaling 4.67 mmt during calendar 

year 2012, which it reported was 60 percent of production. Calculations using this value yield an MPS that is 19 percent 

of the value of cotton output for 2012, again exceeding the de minimis.

WTO = World Trade Organization.

Sources: Reference price in Chinese yuan obtained from China WTO notifications. Unit value of wheat imports obtained 

from customs statistics and converted to Chinese yuan at official exchange rates. Price supports and average farm prices 

from National Development and Reform Commission.

Figure 10

China wheat prices, 1995-2012 

Yuan per metric ton

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

Reference price

Unit value of Average farm price wheat imports Price support

1996-98

reference

period

WTO 

accession

2001

1995 97 99 01 03 05 07 09 11

Table 9

Calculations of China market price support for selected commodities, 2012

Commodity Support price Reference price Eligible production* 

Estimated value of 

market price support**

Yuan per metric ton Yuan per metric ton Million metric tons Percent

Cotton 20,400 14,584 6.5 27

Rapeseed 5,000 2,330 3.8 6

Wheat 2,040 1,698 23.3 3

*Volume purchased at support price.

**Market price support = (support price – reference price)×(eligible production). 

Sources: Reference prices from China World Trade Organization notification on domestic support for 1996-98, except 

rapeseed calculated by USDA, Economic Research Service from customs statistics for 1996-98. Production is from 

China’s National Bureau of Statistics. Value of production calculated as product of output and support price. 
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support (costs of holding reserves, transport, and seed subsidies) are not available, but the MPS 

alone appears to have exceeded the 8.5 percent de minimis for cotton.

A more expansive definition of “eligible” production would push market price support above its 

ceiling for more crops. For example, ERS calculations indicate that market price support for wheat 

during 2012 would have equaled 8 percent of the value of output if all wheat marketed (55 million 

metric tons, or mmt) were defined as eligible and 17 percent if all wheat produced (120 mmt) were 

considered eligible.

As China’s support prices move higher, the difference between support and reference prices will 

widen. China will face a greater risk of exceeding its product-specific support limits if the volume 

of purchases at the support price increases. For example, during the 2008-09 marketing year when 

world prices fell dramatically, statistics indicate that authorities purchased two-thirds of rapeseed, 

one-third of wheat and soybeans, 18 percent of corn, and 8 percent of rice produced. If Chinese 

authorities again procure volumes of this magnitude with support prices now exceeding reference 

prices, the value of support could exceed China’s ceiling. As noted above, this appears to have 

occurred for cotton during 2012.

Divergence of Chinese and World Prices

While WTO disciplines have not yet constrained the increase in support, the reliance on raising 

domestic prices to support producers could constrain this strategy as prices of domestic commodities 

rise above world prices. 

China’s rice, wheat, and corn sectors are protected from import competition by tariff rate quotas 

to a higher degree than other commodities. Limits on imports of these commodities could allow 

Figure 11

China cotton prices, 1995-2012

WTO = World Trade Organization.

Sources: Reference price in Chinese yuan obtained from China WTO notifications. Import price is unit value of cotton 

imports (August-July marketing year) from customs statistics and converted to Chinese yuan at official exchange 

rates. Support price and average farm prices from National Development and Reform Commission.

Yuan per metric ton

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

Reference price

Farm price

Support price

Import price

WTO 

accession

1995 97 99 01 03 05 07 09 11

1996-98

reference

period
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authorities to raise domestic prices. However, most other commodities face competition from 

imports that limits the ability of authorities to raise support prices. For example, from 2008 to 2012, 

authorities raised support prices (in U.S. dollars) a cumulative 88 percent for japonica rice and 55 to 

60 percent for corn (both have tariff rate quotas), but the price supports were raised less rapidly for 

soybeans (41 percent) and rapeseed (25 percent). 

Authorities were constrained in their ability to raise the support price for soybeans since processors 

were unwilling to purchase domestic soybeans at high prices when imported soybeans were cheaper. 

Processors that used domestic soybeans could not raise prices for final products because competitors had lower raw material costs and cheaper imported vegetable oil was also available. Authorities, 

faced with similar constraints for rapeseed, gave subsidies to processors and stockpiled rapeseed oil 

in Government reserves (Chunping Chen, 2009). 

The effects of high commodity prices on processing industries and consumer prices may also 

restrain increases in support prices. Higher raw material prices exert cost pressure on downstream 

industries like vegetable oil processing, flour, rice milling, livestock, and textiles that use primary 

commodities as raw materials (see box, “Agricultural Prices Influence Trade in Final Products”). 

Competition from substitute products or imports constrains processors’ ability to pass on higher raw 

material costs to consumers by raising prices of final products. 

Elevated world grain and oilseed prices—due to drought in the United States and some other 

production regions during 2011-12—facilitated China’s ability to boost domestic prices. If world 

grain and oilseed prices fall relative to Chinese prices, China’s price-support strategy will be difficult to sustain. A decline in world prices could lead to a larger surge of imports into China and more 

active intervention by Chinese officials to support prices. 

USDA’s 10-year “baseline” projections released in 2013 suggested that U.S. and Chinese prices were 

on the brink of a divergence. Chinese authorities announced 7- to 10-percent increases in support 

prices for rice and wheat for 2013, but USDA projections anticipated that U.S. prices for many 

Agricultural Prices Influence Trade in Final Products

China’s agricultural commodities face indirect price pressure from imports of final products or 

availability of cheaper substitutes for those products. Some recent examples include:

•	 High corn prices raised feed costs for hog producers. China became a major pork importer 

during 2008-12 as Chinese hog prices rose to a high level. 

•	 The high cost of cotton in China during 2011-12 led to financial pressure on textile manufacturers, inducing some companies to idle their plants, substitute chemical fiber for cotton, 

or import yarn from countries with lower cotton costs. 

•	 Manufacturers of vegetable oil that use domestic soybeans and rapeseed have high raw

material costs that make their products less competitive vis-a-vis imported vegetable oils or 

oils processed from cheaper imported oilseeds. 

Chinese news media report that flour and rice mills face cost pressures that cannot be easily 

passed on by raising prices. Rice industry reports refer to a “paddy strong, rice weak” (dao 

qiang, mi ruo) pattern of rising paddy rice prices and relatively stagnant retail prices for packaged rice products. Imports of rice increased during 2012 as mills sought lower cost rice to 

improve their profit margins.
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commodities would decline as U.S. crop yields rebounded from drought-induced lows and farmers in 

other countries expanded grain and oilseed production in response to high 2012 prices. During 2011-

12, Chinese and U.S. prices of wheat and corn had grown in a roughly parallel manner (figs. 12 and 

13). But the USDA projections anticipated that U.S. prices of wheat and corn would decline by 2014 

Figure 12

China and U.S. wheat prices 

Dollars per metric ton

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020

China support price

China farm price

Projected U.S. price

U.S. farm price

Note: China prices converted to U.S. dollars at official exchange rate.

Sources: U.S. farm prices from USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service; projected prices from USDA Agricultural 

Projections to 2022, accessed February 2013, http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/agricultural-baseline-database.aspx. 

China farm prices from China National Development and Reform Commission, Survey of Agricultural Production Cost and 

Returns yearbooks. China support prices are from announcements by China National Development and Reform Commission.

Figure 13

China and U.S. corn prices

Dollars per metric ton

Note: China prices converted to U.S. dollars at official exchange rate.

Sources: U.S. farm prices from USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service; projected prices from USDA Long Term 

Agricultural Projections to 2022, accessed February 2013, http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/agricultural-baselinedatabase.aspx. China farm prices from China National Development and Reform Commission, Survey of Agricultural 

Production Cost and Returns yearbooks. China support prices are from announcements by China National Development 

and Reform Commission. 

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020

Projected U.S. price

China 

farm 

price

China support price

U.S. farm price
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before resuming a trend of modest growth, implying a divergence in U.S. and Chinese prices during 

2013-14 if Chinese prices continued on their previous trajectory. 

A divergence between Chinese and world prices occurred in the cotton market during 2011-12. 

China introduced its cotton price-support program in 2011 when world cotton prices were at a 

high level. However, world prices plunged during 2011, and China’s cotton price exceeded the cost 

of imported cotton throughout 2011 and 2012. China’s imports of cotton and yarn rose to record 

levels, while most of the 2011 and 2012 cotton harvests were stockpiled to support a domestic price 

that exceeded the price of imported cotton. Officials were reluctant to allow a reduction in cotton 

price since it would likely reduce farmers’ income and induce farmers to reduce cotton production. 

Officials were unable to sell their cotton reserves into the domestic market without reducing prices.

Changing Nature of Support

Chinese Government policymakers often describe their economy as passing through historical 

stages where different policy measures are appropriate. In the early 2000s, small decoupled grain 

subsidy payments functioned largely as a small rural entitlement, reflecting the traditional role of 

agriculture as a means of subsistence for the rural population. As China becomes a more urbanized 

and industrialized society, the character of agricultural support is shifting to emphasize the modernization and commercialization of agriculture. 

The 2013 “Number 1 document” on rural policy raised concerns about rising farm production 

costs, encroachment of urban uses on farmland, a shrinking and aging agricultural labor force, and 

an increasing prevalence of part-time farming. A 2013 speech by a Ministry of Agriculture official recommended a strategy of shifting expenditure from broad income support for small-scale 

traditional farms to measures that encourage increases in production by larger scale farms and 

cooperatives and increasing transfer payments to agricultural counties based on their performance 

in supplying commodities to other regions.31 A Peoples Daily (2013) “interpretation” of the 2013 

“Number 1 document” explained that grain subsidy payments will be coupled to area planted in 

grain instead of being “sprinkled like salt.” This was followed up by an announcement that Sichuan 

Province would begin distributing subsidies to producers based on the area of land they plant in 

grain (Xinhua News Service, 2013).32

Authorities are encountering pressure to shift support from general subsidies to measures focused 

on particular commodities like soybeans, cotton, and rapeseed. Some industry representatives and 

scholars have called for general-input subsidy payments to be introduced for cotton (Huang and 

Huang, 2011). Concerns about stagnant oilseed output have prompted proposals for increasing subsidies to oilseed producers or subsidizing sale of rapeseed and peanuts to state-owned companies.33

31Keming Qian, “Jin yi bu wanshan Zhongguo tese Xiandaihua Nongye Zhengce Zhichi Tixi [Further Improve 

China’s System for Modern Agriculture Policy Support],” speech to National Committee of the Chinese Peoples Political 

Consultative Conference, March 7, 2013.

32The method was to be introduced in 12 counties on a trial basis. As noted earlier in this report, many provinces 

already distribute subsidies in this manner. The announcement of Sichuan’s new subsidy method appeared to constitute 

an official endorsement of this practice that all provinces should consider. 

33“Caizheng Bu Yunniang Tigao Huasheng Youcai Deng Youliao Zuowu Butie E’du [Ministry of Finance Mulls Raising Subsidies for Peanuts and Rapeseed],” China Business News, November 12, 2012.
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Officials are exploring other new subsidies. The negative impact of price supports on processors 

seems to have increased authorities’ interest in implementing a deficiency payment subsidy equal 

to the difference between a target price and the market price. China’s medium- to long-term food 

security plan called for a deficiency payment subsidy, and Government analysts devised methods for 

setting target prices based on grain production costs (Guangdong Province Price Association Task 

Force, 2010; Li and Xu, 2011). News media reported that authorities were designing a pilot deficiency-payment program for soybeans in northeast provinces to reverse the steep decline in soybean 

production in the region.34 There are proposals to extend this type of subsidy to other commodities 

after testing it with soybeans.

By not linking the subsidies to specific products, the general-input subsidy was able to be classified 

as nonproduct-specific. If authorities adopt crop-specific subsidy payments—such as a general-input 

subsidy for cotton or a deficiency payment for soybeans—China will be more likely to exceed WTO 

limits. Authorities might limit such subsidies to selected regions (for example, cotton in Xinjiang 

Autonomous Region or soybeans in northeastern provinces) in order to reduce the likelihood of 

exceeding the WTO AMS commitments.

Chinese officials continue to devote most of their expenditure to a decades-old campaign to 

modernize agriculture.35 With demand for commodities growing and production limited by scarce 

resources, China’s 5-year plan for 2011-15 calls for creating a new mode of “modern agriculture.” A 

Ministry of Agriculture “blueprint” for modern agriculture calls for creating high-standard agricultural fields, nurturing a new generation of farm operators and agricultural technicians, investing in 

hundreds of model districts for agricultural modernization, and improving protection of agricultural 

resources and the environment. The plan features new strategies for consolidating farms as well as 

a revival of general agricultural development and model farm district schemes that were the main 

support measures during the 1980s and 1990s.

Policies for promoting larger scale commercial-oriented farms received increased emphasis during 

2012-13. Five provinces were selected to experiment with a new large farm subsidy in 2013. 

The program gives interest subsidies or cash awards to operators of “large” grain farms above a 

minimum size (the threshold varied from 50 to 165 acres in different provinces) to subsidize the 

cost of investments in equipment and facilities for irrigation, grain storage, or grain drying. While 

they affirmed collective land ownership and the role of rural households as the primary operators 

of farms, authorities encouraged local officials to facilitate the consolidation of farmland through 

renting, leasing, and swapping the rights to use plots of land or forming village cooperatives. 

34“Guowuyuan Diaoyanzu Modi Dadou Chanye, Yunniang Cha Jia Butie [State Council Research Team Investigates 

Soybean Industry, Prepares Deficiency Payment Subsidy],” Huaxia Shibao, January 17, 2013.

35Hui Liangyu, “Jianding Buji Zou Zhongguo Tese Nongye Xiandaihua Daolu [Unswervingly Follow the Road of 

Modernizing Agriculture with Chinese Characteristics],” National Conference on Agricultural Modernization, speech 

given in Heilongjiang Province, July 20, 2012. http://www.moa.gov.cn/zwllm/zwdt/201207/t20120720_2799007.htm
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China’s Agricultural Support and U.S. Exports

U.S. agricultural producers and industry representatives have raised concerns about China’s increase 

in domestic farm support. While it is often presumed that subsidies and price supports give Chinese 

farmers an advantage, these policies may actually improve prospects for U.S. agricultural exports by 

raising costs and prices of Chinese commodities above international levels. 

Given the weak response of Chinese producers to subsidy payments, China has relied on raising 

price supports to stimulate production.36 In past decades, price supports adopted by North American 

and European countries created domestic surpluses of farm commodities that were sold into world 

markets at discounted prices. However, China today is a net importer of the commodities that are the 

main targets of its domestic support programs—grains, oilseeds, and cotton. As a WTO member, 

China agreed to relatively low tariffs and eliminated most barriers to imports apart from tariff rate 

quotas for several types of cereal grains, cotton, and sugar. Consequently, as China raises domestic 

price supports above international prices, it tends to attract more imports. 

An acceleration of U.S. agricultural exports coincided with China’s elevation of price supports. U.S. 

agricultural exports to China totaled $5 billion in 2003—the year before China began its direct 

subsidy payments—and rose to $8.3 billion in 2007. Agricultural exports to China then rose threefold during the following 5 years, reaching nearly $26 billion in 2012 (fig. 14). This increase coincided with China’s strategy of increasing support prices annually. China was the leading destination 

for U.S. agricultural exports in 2012, accounting for 18 percent of the value of U.S. agricultural 

exports that year (up from 8 to 9 percent during 2003-07). 

The relationship between rising U.S. agricultural exports and China’s increase in support prices is 

complex, and the two trends are interdependent. Chinese policies have played a role in promoting 

U.S. exports to varying degrees for different commodities. The discussion that follows identifies several key U.S. export commodities and explains how rising U.S. exports are tied to China’s 

domestic agricultural policies. 

Soybeans: Exports to China $15 Billion During 2012

Given China’s limited amount of land, inducements to produce wheat, corn, and rice have displaced 

soybean production. As discussed earlier in this report, China raised support prices for corn and 

short-grain rice (the two principal crops in soybean-producing regions of northeastern China) by 54 

to 88 percent during 2008-12, but the soybean support price was raised only 41 percent. Soybean 

prices are not high enough to make soybeans as profitable as corn and other alternative crops. 37

The price of soybeans would have to rise sharply to induce farmers in China to plant more soybeans. 

However, the demand for Chinese soybeans is sensitive to their price, since imported soybeans are 

available to processors at a lower price. Consequently, when the Chinese Government attempts 

36Jikun Huang et al. (2011) and Guoqiang Cheng (2011) found that grain subsidy payments had little or no influence on 

Chinese farmers’ production decisions, and many provincial officials have criticized the weak incentives of subsidy payments (Sichuan CPPCC, 2009). Guoqiang Cheng (2011) and Du (2011) reported that output price was the most important 

determinant of production decisions.

37Most Chinese farmers probably receive the same subsidy payment whether they plant corn or soybeans, so subsidies 

likely have little or no influence on the production decision. 
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to raise the soybean price by increasing the price support, it has to stockpile expensive domestic 

soybeans while imports accelerate.38 According to USDA estimates, China’s soybean production fell 

18 percent from market year 2008/09 to 2012/13. Imports of soybeans rose 20 million metric tons 

(50 percent) during that period. One Chinese pundit remarked that China’s soybean intervention 

ironically functioned as a “subsidy for foreign farmers.”39

Cotton: Exports to China $3.6 Billion During 2012

China’s domestic support policy created short-term export opportunities for U.S. cotton. Soon after 

China introduced a support price for cotton in 2011, the world cotton price fell sharply (see fig. 11). 

The domestic support price exceeded the cost of imported cotton by a substantial margin during 

the 2011/12 and 2012/13 marketing years. This led to a bifurcated market as authorities purchased a 

large portion of the domestic cotton harvest and stockpiled it in Government reserves while textile 

mills increased their use of imported cotton. In 2012/13, China raised the support price even higher, 

the domestic cotton stockpile grew even larger, and imports surged. U.S. exports of cotton to China 

rose to $3.6 billion during calendar year 2012.

Based on a review of government and industry reports, Gale and MacDonald (2013) surmised that 

Chinese officials raised the cotton price to avert a decline in cotton production that might have been 

prompted by a decline in the cotton price compared with the prices of alternative crops. The cottonsupport price was set at 10 times the wheat-support price in 2011/12, and the cotton-support price 

38During 2008-09, a temporary subsidy was introduced to induce domestic processors to utilize soybeans stockpiled 

during the first year of the soybean support-price policy.

39Junhua Hu, “Yihai Jili Jituan Fu Dongshichang: Liangyou Zu Jiagong Cunzai Guodu Jingzheng [Yihai Kerry Vice 

Chairman: Still Excessive Competition in Grain and Oil Processing].” Di Yi Caijing Ribao, December 27, 2012. http://

www.yicai.com/news/2012/12/2371967.html

Figure 14

U.S. agricultural exports to China, 2000-12 

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service analysis of data from USDA, Foreign Agricultural Service, Global Agricultural 

Trade System.

Billion dollars

1.7 1.9 2.1

5.0 5.5 5.2

6.7

8.3

12.1

13.1

17.5

18.9

26.0

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

2000 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12

China began

direct

subsidies

China began 

increasing 

price supports

annually
35

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was raised in 2012/13 to maintain parity as wheat and other grain prices rose. Chinese producers 

reduced their cotton planting in most regions despite the high price support. 

While China’s cotton policy created greater export opportunities for U.S. cotton in the short run, 

it increased uncertainty about how China would dispose of its large stockpile of domestic cotton. 

The high price of cotton paid by Chinese textile mills also induced them to import cotton yarn from 

India and Pakistan and accelerate their substitution of chemical fiber for cotton. In the longer run, 

these trends could weaken export demand for U.S. cotton.

Corn and Distillers Dried Grains: Exports to China $1.9 Billion 

During 2012

As China’s domestic corn prices are driven higher by a combination of robust demand and Government 

policy, U.S. corn is becoming competitive in the Chinese market. China is the world’s second-leading 

producer of corn and was a net exporter of corn until 2007. China’s corn output has increased dramatically, rising by over 40 million metric tons from 2008/09 to 2012/13. Nevertheless, China has emerged 

as a corn importer as demand by Chinese livestock producers and industrial processors rose even faster 

and feed mills sought cheaper alternatives to domestic corn to ease cost pressures. 

Beginning in 2009, Chinese feed mills began importing significant quantities of U.S. distillers dried 

grains with solubles (DDGS, a feed co-product of corn-based ethanol production) as a less expensive 

corn substitute that is exempt from value-added tax and is not subject to import quota restrictions 

(Jewison and Gale, 2012). U.S. DDGS exports to China exceeded $600 million during 2012. China 

began significant imports of U.S. corn in 2010, and China has now become a consistent importer of 

corn. During calendar year 2012, U.S. sales of corn to China totaled $1.3 billion. 

The difference between Chinese and U.S. corn prices is the main determinant of corn and DDGS 

export sales to China. Exports to China were slowed by surging U.S. prices due to drought during 

2012. Large sales to Chinese corn buyers have been reported when U.S. corn prices dropped in 

recent years. 

Wheat: Exports to China $214 Million During 2012

Wheat has been a primary focus of China’s domestic policies. Abundant supplies and low domestic 

prices dampened China’s demand for wheat imports until 2012. While wheat is primarily a food 

grain, the demand for wheat as animal feed rose during 2011-12 as domestic corn prices rose above 

wheat prices.40 China’s wheat imports during 2012 totaled over $1 billion, but two-thirds came from 

Australia, comprised mainly of inexpensive wheat that could be used in livestock feed rations.41 U.S. 

wheat sales to China during 2012 were $214 million, the highest total since 2004. Later in 2012, 

Chinese wheat prices rose sharply, narrowing the profit margins of wheat mills and stimulating 

interest in imports of milling-quality wheat. According to Chinese customs statistics, the average 

landed price of U.S. wheat arriving in China during January-March 2013 was slightly lower than 

40Mold problems in Shandong and Hebei Provinces limited the supply of corn that could be used for animal feed during 2011. Mold also affected the 2012 corn crop, but only in the northeastern provinces.

41According to Chinese customs statistics, Australian wheat imported by China during 2012 averaged $274 per metric 

ton versus $362 for U.S. wheat.
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the Chinese domestic support price set for 2013. If Chinese and U.S. prices diverge as suggested by 

figure 12, demand for U.S. milling-quality wheat will strengthen.

Meat and Poultry: Exports to China $900 Million During 2012

The increase in Chinese grain prices creates export opportunities for U.S. meats. Gale, Marti, 

and Hu (2012) showed that rising grain prices translate to rising costs for Chinese hog producers, 

making U.S. pork price-competitive in China. U.S. exports of meat and poultry rose to $900 million 

during 2012. Pork is the chief type of U.S. meat exported to China. U.S. poultry exports to China 

exceeded $400 million in 2009 before China imposed antidumping duties in 2010. Even with these 

high duties, U.S. poultry sales to China were $186 million during 2012. U.S. sales of meat to China 

are slowed by China’s zero tolerance for ractopamine (a feed additive widely used by U.S. pork 

producers to convert feed to lean meat more efficiently) and China’s ban on U.S. beef imports that 

has been in place since an occurrence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the United 

States in 2003.

Future Policy Directions and U.S. Exports

As discussed above, authorities in China have signaled their intent to experiment with subsidy 

payments that are more directly coupled to production decisions and deficiency payments that allow 

prices to be determined by market forces. Another proposed measure is a subsidy to processors for 

each unit of domestic commodities processed. It is uncertain whether such policies can be widely 

adopted, since they would be costly, difficult to implement, and may exceed WTO-imposed limits on 

support. If such policies succeed in prompting Chinese farmers to expand production of a particular 

crop, such an expansion would mean displacing production of another crop. 

Improvements in crop yields, feed conversion, pest control, animal disease prevention, efficient 

water use, and other factors that raise productivity and efficiency can reduce unit costs of Chinese 

commodities and slow China’s demand for imports. China has numerous programs aimed at 

addressing these issues, and these programs account for much of its agricultural support expenditure. However, China has been engaged in such efforts for many years with uneven results, and large 

expenditure does not guarantee large impacts. The impact of these programs is likely to be incremental and have little immediate impact on production or demand for imported products.

China is also experimenting with programs that encourage restructuring of agriculture and consolidation of farms. Larger scale farms may have a higher cost structure than small household-based 

farms, since they are more likely to pay high land rents, invest in fixed assets, use hired laborers and 

machinery. Larger scale farms may use more efficient management techniques and high-quality inputs, 

but they also may apply less labor and fertilizer per acre than household farms. The demand for highquality inputs may spur U.S. exports of feed ingredients, farm equipment, breeding stock, and seeds.

China’s domestic-support policies will continue their evolution in coming years. Pressure from 

imports and perceived threats to food security are among the chief factors spurring policy adjustments. Changes in policies can occur rapidly in response to decrees of Central Government leaders, 

but implementation and impacts of policies is uneven and difficult to assess. Domestic policies are 

unlikely to prevent China from becoming a larger importer of agricultural products. Nevertheless, it 

will be important for U.S. industry leaders and policy officials to carefully monitor China’s evolving 

approach to agricultural policies as that country becomes an important source of demand in global 

commodity markets.
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Yan, Xinggang. Nongchanpin Fengle? [Are Agricultural Products Crazy?]. Beijing: Beijing 

Publishing Group, 2011. 

Yuan, Yansheng, and Qun Su. “Guanyu Liangshi Zhijie Butie Zhengce de Zongshu (Overview of 

Grain Direct Subsidy Policy),” Issues in Agricultural Economy, 2009.

Zhang, Chao. “Dui Tuo Shi Shougou Zhengce de Tantao [Investigation of Market Intervention 

Policy],” Grain Decision Reference, No. 6, 2012.

Zhang, Hongyu, and Changbao Zhao (editors). Zhongguo Nongye Zhengce de Jiben Kuangjia 

[Basic Framework of China’s Agricultural Policy]. Beijing: China Financial and Economic 

Publishing House, 2009.

Zhu, Zhigang, Jinglin Hu, Xuewen Zhang, Ying Ren, Min Ma, Xiaoliang Han. Guanyu 13 ge 

Liangshi Zhu Chan Sheng Liangshi Zhibude Diaoyan Baogao [Report on survey of grain 

direct subsidies in 13 grain-producing provinces], unpublished report, Ministry of Finance 

Economic Construction Office, 2005. http://jjs.mof.gov.cn/zhengwuxinxi/diaochayanjiu/200806/

t20080619_47083.html
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Appendix 1—Glossary of Chinese Policy-Related Terms

There is potential for confusion in discussions of Chinese agricultural policy due to the difficulty of 

translating unfamiliar Chinese words and phrases that sometimes have ambiguous meaning outside 

of their context. Below are ERS translations of Chinese terms for various policy measures based on 

common usage in Chinese Government documents and news articles.

Appendix 1

Glossary table—Chinese policy-related terms

Chinese Pinyin USDA, Economic Research Service translation

直接补贴 Zhi jie bu tie Direct subsidy payment

农资综合补贴 Nong zi zonghe 

butie

General (or comprehensive) agricultural input subsidy

良种 Liang zhong Improved, fine or quality breeds of seeds or animals

购置补贴 Gou zhi bu tie Purchase subsidy (in the form of a rebate or discount), usually for 

machinery or equipment

最低收购价 Zui di shou gou jia Minimum purchase price for commodities

临时收储 Lin shi shou chu Temporary purchase and storage of commodity reserves

保护价 Bao hu jia Protection price

目标价格 Mu biao jia ge Target price

差价补贴 Cha jia bu tie Subsidy for price difference (deficiency payment)

价外补贴 Jia wai bu tie Subsidy per unit sold added to the price

贴息率 Tie xi lü Subsidized/discounted interest rate

奖补 Jiang bu Award (usually a payment to a local government)

补助 Bu zhu Aid (financial)

政策性 Zheng ce xing Policy-style (usually insurance or loans)

支持 Zhi chi Support (for an industry, usually via subsidies)

鼓励 Gu li Encourage (farmers or others to make decisions about 

production or other matters)

引导 Yin dao Guide (farmers or others in making decisions or adopting 

technologies)

调动 Diao dong Mobilize; maneuver (farmers, markets, commodities, water or 

other resources)

积极性 Ji ji xing Enthusiasm; vigor (of farmers)

激励 Ji li Incentive

示范 Shi fan Demonstration or model (usually a farm or district)

Source: Compiled by USDA, Economic Research Service.
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Appendix 2—Currency and Geographic Information

Land measure: 15 mu = 1 hectare; 6.07 mu = 1 acre

Regional administrative structure: Mainland China’s territory is administered by a 5-level hierarchy 

of government and communist party officials. 

•	 Central Government

•	 Provinces (including 22

provinces, 4 municipalities 

reporting directly to the 

Central Government and 5 

autonomous regions)

•	 Cities or prefectures

include urban districts and 

surrounding rural counties

•	 Counties

•	 Townships and towns

Most rural families live 

in over 700,000 villages, 

which are further divided 

into village groups. Village 

households collectively 

own land and other assets. 

Villages are not a formal 

level of government, but they 

have councils that manage 

collective assets, business 

enterprises and construction 

projects. Many villages also 

have a communist party 

branch office that implements 

development strategies and 

policies.

Currency: Most data on 

expenditures in this report 

were converted from Chinese 

yuan to U.S. dollars at the 

official exchange rate for the 

relevant year. The U.S. dollar 

was fixed at 8.28 yuan per 

dollar from the mid-1990s 

until July 2005. The rate in 

recent years was as follows:

Appendix 2 figure 1

Chinese provinces

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service.

 Appendix 2 table 1

Chinese currency rates

Year Exchange rate

Yuan per dollar

2004 8.28

2005 8.18

2006 7.95

2007 7.61

2008 6.95

2009 6.83

2010 6.77

2011 6.46

2012 6.31

Source: Compiled by USDA, Economic Research Service.
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Appendix 3—China’s Agricultural Support Programs

Below is a detailed (but not exhaustive) list of China’s agricultural support programs compiled by 

ERS from descriptions in Farmers Daily articles that appeared in March 2011 and March 2012, 

supplemented by other materials. Approximate Chinese Government expenditures (converted to U.S. 

dollars) for calendar year 2011 are included in parentheses when available. 

Elimination of the agricultural tax

Historically, the “agricultural tax” was paid by delivering grain to authorities. By the 1990s, the tax 

was often paid in cash based on a farm household’s capacity to produce grain. This, in turn, was 

determined by the farmer’s land holding; thus it was in effect a tax on agricultural land. In 2004, the 

Government announced a national program to phase out the agricultural tax. The tax was eliminated 

nationwide in 2006.42 Chinese officials have estimated the value of agricultural tax reductions to 

farmers at $21 billion per year. 

Direct payment to grain producers ($2.4 billion)

The direct payment to grain producers is a fixed payment based (in most provinces) on the same 

historical land base that was used to assess the agricultural tax. In some localities, the payment 

is based on planted area or volume of grain sold. The particulars of the payment’s implementation are determined by each provincial government. The total of these payments has risen as they 

were extended to more farmers and regions; coverage became nationwide in 2007. The central and 

provincial governments jointly contribute funds to provincial “grain risk funds” that fund subsidies 

and costs of grain market intervention. At least half of each province’s grain risk fund is to be used 

for the direct payment subsidy. The amount of the payment was initially determined by dividing the 

grain risk fund allocation by the amount of eligible land or volume of marketed grain. The payment 

is typically 10 yuan per mu ($9.50 per acre), but can vary from 5 to 20 or more yuan per mu in 

various provinces and municipalities.

General-input subsidy for grain producers ($13.4 billion)

The general-input subsidy was introduced in 2006 to shield grain producers from rising production 

costs due to increases in petroleum and fertilizer prices. This payment is made directly to farmers, 

usually in conjunction with the direct grain payment. The payment level is raised based on changes 

in grain and input prices in each year. The amount of the subsidy paid to farmers is determined by 

local authorities. The payment remains constant if input prices fall. 

Improved strains of seed subsidy ($3.4 billion)

The quality seed subsidy is intended to reduce the cost of purchasing varieties of seed that are 

determined to be high quality or with special characteristics valued by processors, such as highoil-content soybeans, corn with high starch content or for silage use, wheat with high or low gluten, 

and “double low” rapeseed. The subsidy is a set payment based on the area of crop planted (10 yuan 

42Many local officials have imposed various fees that partially replace reduced tax revenue (Huang, Wang, and Liang, 

2010). A story posted on an online forum alleged that officials in one area reclassified land and converted the agricultural 

tax to a forest user fee.
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per mu for wheat, corn, soybeans, rapeseed and early-season rice; 15 yuan per mu for single-season 

and late-season rice, cotton, and wheat in Xinjiang Autonomous Region). Subsidies are only given 

in designated counties for most crops. The seed subsidy can be distributed either by giving a cash 

payment to farmers to buy seeds or by transferring funds to a company which sells seeds to farmers 

at a discounted price. Initially, this program covered rice, wheat, corn, and soybeans, but it has been 

extended to cotton, rapeseed, peanuts (on a trial basis in selected counties), seed potato propagation 

farms, highland barley grown in Tibetan areas, and natural rubber. The composition of expenditure 

during 2009 was: rice $1 billion, wheat $653 million, corn $920 million, soybeans $153 million, 

cotton $198 million, rapeseed $116 million, and seed potatoes $31 million. Seed subsidy funds are 

allocated to each county based on the area of crops planted (in a separate calculation from the direct 

payment subsidy calculation).

Machinery-purchase subsidy ($2.7 billion)

The machinery-purchase subsidy pays up to 30 percent of the purchase price of eligible agricultural 

machinery and equipment. The subsidy is 50 percent in regions of Sichuan Province affected by 

the 2008 earthquake and in regions of central China where the program is linked to elimination 

of schistosomiasis (a parasitic disease spread by water buffalo). The subsidy cannot exceed $7,800 

for most types of machinery. The maximum subsidy is $18,750 for tractors of 100 horsepower (hp) 

or more, high-capacity hay harvesters, large no-till seeding machines, milking machines, large 

combine harvesters, large rice transplanters, and grain drying machinery. The maximum is $31,250 

for large cotton harvesters, sugar cane harvesters, and 200-hp or more tractors.

The subsidy covers a wide range of equipment, including tractors, harvesters, machinery for conservation tillage, fishing and forestry equipment, milking machinery, and grain-drying equipment. 

A national list of 180 kinds of eligible equipment is compiled, which each province can supplement with up to 20 additional types. Purchasers can be farmers, cooperatives, machinery serviceproviders, model farms, or milk collection stations. Machinery can be purchased from any county 

within the province, and the purchaser applies to the provincial government for the subsidy payment. 

In 2009, the Ministry of Agriculture added pilot subsidy programs in some regions for equipment 

used for conservation tillage, rice transplanting, and plant protection. 

Agricultural insurance ($1.47 billion)

China launched subsidy programs for crop and livestock insurance in 2007 and expanded them in 

2008. Corn, rice, wheat, soybean, cotton, rapeseed, and peanuts are insured against weather-related 

natural disasters and pest and rodent damage in 12 provinces and 3 regions administered by state 

farms. Livestock insurance covers 19 kinds of diseases for breeding sows and fattening hogs and 

10 diseases for dairy cattle, as well as losses from natural disasters in central and western provinces. Some local governments subsidize insurance for other agricultural activities. Insurance is 

provided by designated insurance companies, with most of the premiums paid by subsidies from 

central, provincial, prefecture, and county governments. Farmers pay only 20 percent of sow insurance premiums and 40 percent of dairy cattle insurance premiums. The central-provincial-local split 

varies by region—the central share is lower in eastern provinces and higher in central and western 

provinces. In 2013, the Central Government raised its share of fattening-hog insurance premiums 

from 10 percent to 50 percent in central and western regions and 40 percent in eastern regions.
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Improved animal breed subsidy ($186 million)

Similar to the seed subsidy, a program to improve animal breeds was launched with a subsidy for 

dairy cattle in selected trial counties during 2005. The program was later extended to more dairy 

counties and offered for swine, beef cattle, and sheep. It includes yaks in parts of western China. 

The program subsidizes artificial inseminations using semen from improved breeds. The subsidy 

for swine is $1.56 for each insemination (two attempts each for two breedings per year for each 

sow) paid to a breeding station; for dairy cattle, $4.69 per Holstein and Jersey dairy heifer and 

water buffalos for milking, $3.12 for other breeds; beef cattle $1.56 per heifer; for sheep, $125 per 

ram purchased; for yaks, $312 per bull purchased. According to a Ministry of Agriculture report, 

the program expanded the number of county-level hog-breeding stations from 2,800 to 3,500 and it 

added 761 Holstein bulls. 

Sow subsidy

A subsidy for each reproductive sow of 50 yuan was introduced in 2006 and raised to 100 yuan in 

2007. The subsidy is only given in major pork-supply counties and its implementation is uneven. 

According to regulations describing a hog price stabilization program issued in 2012, the subsidy is 

only given during periods when the ratio of hog price to corn price is below 5.5:1. 

General Agricultural Development

General agricultural development projects are implemented in a contiguous area covering one 

or more villages using a variety of integrated measures: upgrading or repairing infrastructure 

(including irrigation facilities and roads to access fields); leveling fields; raising soil fertility; 

building storage or processing facilities, greenhouses or other structures; supporting agribusiness companies and farmer cooperatives; supporting training; subsidizing new seeds; machinery 

purchases; extension services; and pest control (Zhang and Zhao, 2009, p. 176). The strategy often 

emphasizes a “demonstration” (shi fan) strategy of focusing support on selected regions or farms 

as models that will inspire wider dissemination of new modes of production and technologies. It 

incorporates other subsidy programs and loans with interest subsidies from 3.5 percentage points 

for small projects to 0.5 percentage points for large projects over $1.56 million.43 Funding comes 

from multiple levels of government, farmers, and companies. China Ministry of Agriculture (2011, 

p. 43) reported that general agricultural development investment included $3 billion from the Central 

Government, $1.65 billion from local governments, and $3 billion from investments by farmers and 

companies and bank loans. 

“Grain for green” ($61 million)

Known in Chinese as “tui geng huan lin (return cultivated land to forests),” this environmental 

program compensates farmers for converting erodible or otherwise environmentally fragile land 

from grain production to trees or grass. Compensation can be as an in-kind payment of food grains 

or in cash. Recipients also may receive aid for planting trees or grass.

43Ministry of Finance, National Comprehensive Development Funds and Project Management,” Document No. 29, 

revised September 2010.
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Awards to large grain-producing counties ($3.5 billion)

Over 1,000 major grain-producing counties receive financial awards (transfer payments) from the 

Central Government. Counties are selected by a ranking based on a weighted formula that includes 

the volume of grain sold outside the county (50 percent), grain production, and area (25 percent 

each). The proportion of improved commercial varieties planted in the county is one of the criteria 

for distributing oilseed awards. The top 100 counties receive larger awards. In 2008, oilseedproducing counties were included in the program. Initially, the funds could be used as needed to 

relieve financial stress. Beginning in 2008, the program encouraged counties to use the funds for 

supporting production of grain and oilseeds. Funds cannot be used for purchases of automobiles, 

new office buildings or training centers, salary increases, or “image projects.” In 2011, over 1,000 

major grain- and oilseed-producing counties received financial awards (transfers) from the Central 

Government totaling $3.7 billion.44 RCRE’s (2011) survey of counties reported that the average 

county’s award was $3.8 million for grain counties and $610,000 for oilseed counties. 

Contribution to “grain risk funds” ($3.9 billion)

Each province has a “grain risk fund” established in the 1990s initially to finance grain procurement. The fund was jointly financed by central and provincial government contributions. At least 

half of the fund is now used to finance grain subsidies. From 2009 to 2011, the Central Government 

took over the entire contribution to grain risk funds. According to Farmers Daily (2009), this 

reduced the local contribution by $1.5 billion.

Award to major pork-supply counties ($511 million)

Major pork-supply counties can receive a financial award. Counties are ranked using a formula 

based on volume of pork sold outside the county (50 percent), as well as inventory and slaughter (25 

percent each). The top counties receive awards. Funds are earmarked for construction or refurbishment of hog farms; purchase of breeding stock; vaccination programs; manure management; subsidized interest on loans; support for companies engaged in purchase, sale, storage, distribution and 

processing; and food safety measures. In 2011, 500 counties received awards totaling $512 million. 

According to RCRE (2011), the average award was $900,000 per county. 

Large grain-farm subsidy

This subsidy is a fixed payment per mu to farms that plant grain crops on a large amount of land. 

The threshold and the amount of the subsidy vary widely. Farms can operate their own land 

contracted from their collective or land rented from others with a signed agreement. The amount 

of the subsidy varies from $9.50 per acre to as much as $190 per acre. The subsidy may be set at a 

higher per-acre amount for the largest farm sizes. It is not clear how many provinces have implemented the large farm subsidy.

In 2013, five provinces were chosen to experiment with a new type of large grain-farm subsidy 

that gives interest subsidies or partial grants for the cost of investments in irrigation, grain storage, 

or grain-drying equipment not covered by the machinery subsidy. The minimum size thresholds 

varied from 49 acres in Shandong to 165 acres in Liaoning Province. The program in Shandong also 

44Farmers Daily-Ministry of Agriculture, “Grain County, Pork County Awards Steadily Improved,” September 2011, 

http://www.zzny.gov.cn/art/2011/9/6/art_4755_268827.html.
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targeted improved financial services and included a land-swap scheme to facilitate consolidation of 

fragmented plots. 

Land transfer awards

Some provinces give one-time grants to farms that rent large contiguous plots of land. In 2008, 

Jiangsu Province established a fund to support $94-per-acre grants to farms that rented 1,000 mu 

(165 acres) of land for at least a 3-year lease or shareholding farmer cooperatives that pooled at least 

49 acres. The rent had to equal or exceed the net income typically generated by farmers cultivating 

the land. In 2009, Anhui Province’s Hefei Municipality enacted a similar one-time award for companies or other organizations that rent 165 acres of land at a rent of $475 per acre for a period of at 

least 3 years. Hefei’s per-mu award is larger for larger land rentals, reaching a maximum of $190 per 

acre if at least 494 acres are rented. The stated objective of the Hefei program is to expand vegetable 

and livestock production to supply the city. 

Fishing diesel fuel subsidy ($2.68 billion)

Fishermen can receive a subsidy for fuel costs for self-propelled vessels used in ocean or fresh water 

fishing and aquaculture.

Aid for technologies and methods to prevent or alleviate natural disasters ($515 million in 2012)

An emergency aid program during 2011 and 2012 supported drought-mitigation measures including 

use of plastic tunnels and irrigation for rice seedlings; plastic mulch in southwestern corn fields; 

pumps, irrigation and spraying in wheat fields; aid for farms producing early-rice seedlings in 

southern provinces; a program promoting rice-rapeseed crop rotations; and special teams for pest 

and disease control in areas affected by droughts and floods.

Animal disease prevention ($122 million)

Free mandatory vaccines for major animal diseases, including highly pathogenic avian influenza, 

foot and mouth disease, highly pathogenic blue ear disease, and classical swine fever, are jointly 

funded by central and provincial governments and distributed by veterinary stations. Government 

funds cover costs of personnel and other expenses for providing veterinary services to farms. 

Producers are to receive compensation for disposal of diseased animals. 

Soil fertility testing ($26 million)

Free soil fertility testing and advisory services are offered to farmers in 10,000 pilot villages. The 

program plans to eventually cover 180 million farm households. 

Raising organic matter in soil ($86 million)

A subsidy of 20 yuan per mu has been set to encourage farmers to plough straw and stalks into 

soil or purchase seed for green manure crops. The program also encourages commercialization of 

organic fertilizer with a subsidy of 200 yuan per metric ton based on use of 100 kg per mu. Soil 

fertility testing results are utilized to promote use of organic fertilizer.
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Professionalized pest control organizations ($78 million)

This program would subsidize 2,000 pest-control organizations in 800 counties nationwide with 

aid of $39,000 for each organization. The subsidy can be used for purchasing pesticides, materials 

and equipment for field operations, and pest survey equipment. Organizations must be registered 

with a commercial or civil affairs bureau; have accreditation from the county agriculture bureau; 

have equipment and technical personnel adequate to provide services to 165 acres or more per day; 

and be able to contract for services with an area covering 1,650 acres in southern single-season 

rice-growing areas, 3,295 acres in southern early-season rice, northern single-season rice and wheat 

areas, and 4,940 acres in corn areas. 

Modern agriculture model districts 

Central and provincial governments contribute unspecified funds for agricultural projects in 

designated model (shi fan) districts. The district should emphasize construction of high-standard 

fields with packages of water, soil, road, and electricity investments; drought and flood prevention 

measures; improved financial services; new forms of management characterized by large farms, 

farmer cooperatives and agribusiness links; land rental; improvements in food safety; and environmental protection.

High-standard field construction ($31 billion over 2011-15)

This is intended to raise productive capacity by improving irrigation equipment and facilities in 

fields, raising soil quality, and improving technical guidance. All local governments are ordered to 

formulate plans and targets for developing high-standard fields. The program emphasizes improvements in major grain-producing areas. 

High-yield grain, cotton, oilseed, sugar districts ($234 million)

This subsidy is intended to create 5,000 high-yielding 1,650-acre demonstration districts in 500 integrated townships in 50 counties nationwide (4,380 grain, 370 oilseed, and 50 sugar districts). The 

program aims to integrate improved fields, seeds, methods, and machinery in contiguous areas to 

raise production capacity. Presumably this program utilizes subsidy programs for seeds, machinery, 

infrastructure, training, extension programs and subsidized bank loans.

“Vegetable basket” product standardized production bases ($97 

million)

Chinese authorities classify meats, milk, fish, vegetables, and fruit as “nonstaple” foods whose 

supply and consumption historically has been local in nature. A “vegetable basket mayors’ responsibility system” initiated in 1989 requires prefecture (city) leaders to ensure that their local population is supplied with nonstaple foods. Support is often in the form of tax exemptions; subsidized 

loans; access to land; provision of auxiliary services; and grants or earmarked loans for building 

greenhouses, irrigation facilities, livestock housing, or wholesale market facilities. Horticultural crop 

programs include a network of demonstration farms and an emphasis on marketing. 

The 2010 “Number 1 Document” called for a renewed emphasis on “vegetable basket” support to 

address problems with food safety and price fluctuations. That year, the Ministry of Agriculture 

launched a campaign to set up a network of standardized horticultural demonstration projects, each 
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supported with $78,000 in aid from the Central Government ($55,000 for “ecological cultivation,” 

$15,625 for technical services, and $7,812 for quality management). According to the plan, $360 

million for the program’s support would come from provincial, county, and municipal budgets, 

and only $15 million in Central Government funds would be given. The Ministry also launched a 

national standardized demonstration farm project for livestock and poultry during 2010 with $547 

million in government support.

Standardized livestock and poultry farms ($78 million)

The program provides aid for construction and refurbishing of livestock and poultry production 

facilities, either a single farm or “livestock-raising communities” (yang zhi xiaoqu, standardized 

barns, or sheds in villages engaged in livestock production). Subsidy levels are set for farms of 

various scales. 

“Green channel” toll reduction

Highway and bridge tolls are waived for trucks carrying fresh produce, livestock, or aquaculture 

products. Fees assessed by wholesale markets are reduced or waived. Inspection procedures are 

streamlined.

Direct purchase of fresh and live agricultural products

In 2009, the Ministries of Commerce and Agriculture launched a direct purchase (nong chao dui 

jie) program that encourages supermarket chains, cafeterias, and hotels to purchase fresh produce 

directly from farmer cooperatives. These sales are exempt from the 13-percent value-added tax. 

Supermarkets are ordered not to charge farmer-suppliers slotting or shelf fees and are required to 

remit payments for merchandise sales to farmers on a daily basis.

Grassland protection system ($2.1 billion)

A new “grassland protection mechanism” for eight western provinces was announced in 2011. The 

program aimed to restore degraded grasslands by compensating herders for reducing the number of 

animals grazed, but official announcements also described it as a program for raising incomes of 

an estimated 1 million animal herders. The grassland protection mechanism includes a package of 

subsidies similar to those given to grain producers:

•	 Compensation to herding families of $6 per acre of degraded pasture where grazing animals is

forbidden.

•	 A payment of $1.42 per acre for pasture where grazing is allowed to compensate herders for

keeping the number of animals within prescribed limits.

•	 Subsidies for improved breeds of animals, improved varieties of pasture grass, and a $78 per

household subsidy for cost of fuel.

•	 A financial award to county governments based on their implementation of grassland protection

measures.
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Small agricultural water infrastructure 

This would provide aid for small irrigation projects covering 1,650 acres in 850 counties, including 

521 major grain-producing counties. All levels of government, from central to county, are to increase 

spending on small-scale water projects and “guide” farmers to voluntarily donate their labor. Funds 

for village public works projects can be used. 

Rural gasification

Subsidies would be provided for construction of village gas-generation facilities using animal 

manure and crop residues with the residual spread on fields as fertilizer. Subsidies per household are 

$156 in eastern provinces, $188 in central, and $234 in western provinces. The maximum subsidy 

per project ranges from $234,000 in western provinces to $390,000 in eastern provinces. 

Minimum price policies

Authorities in China set minimum prices for rice and wheat to ensure that prices are high enough to 

cover production costs and earn a profit. A minimum price is set each year for rice (short-grain rice 

in northeastern provinces and early-, middle-, and late-season long-grain rice in southern provinces) 

and wheat (red, white, and mixed wheat until 2012, when a single wheat price was announced). 

The price is set by authorities based on production cost surveys and market conditions. Prices are 

announced before crops are planted (in September for wheat and January for rice). Minimum prices 

are in effect only during the peak months for the crop’s procurement and only in designated major 

production areas. Purchases are made only when the market price is below the minimum. Purchased 

commodities are kept in storage until they can be auctioned at a grain exchange at a higher price. 

The Central Government subsidizes storage and operation costs. Purchases are made by Sinograin, 

the Government’s reserve-management company, or by local grain depots commissioned by 

Sinograin. In 2010, two other state-owned companies were also permitted to make minimum-price 

purchases but this decision was reversed in 2012.

Temporary or provisional reserve support prices 

Price supports for corn, soybeans, rapeseed, and cotton (and for wheat and rice outside the regions 

designated for minimum-price procurement) are called temporary reserve programs. Provisional 

support prices are usually set after harvest in designated regions, and authorities sometimes set 

targets for the volume of commodities to be purchased at the support price in each province. 

Pork market intervention

Under a “price alert” program for hogs introduced in 2009, authorities intervene in pork markets by 

purchasing frozen pork when the ratio of hog-to-grain prices falls below a break-even point set by 

authorities. Reserves are sold into the market during periods of rising prices or peak demand. The 

reserves are held by meat companies in major cities with costs subsidized by the Government. 

Income and business taxes

Most Chinese farmers do not pay income or business taxes. Farmer cooperatives and rural cooperative banks pay business taxes at a discounted rate. Processing and trading companies designated as a 

“leading enterprise” may receive tax concessions.
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Value-added tax (VAT) waivers

China assesses a VAT of 17 percent for most manufactured products and 13 percent for unprocessed 

agricultural products. Most imported agricultural commodities are assessed a 13-percent VAT on 

the gross value of the landed cost (including tariff). Some imported products, like animal feeds, are 

exempt from VAT.

Farmers and most purchasers of domestic farm products are exempt from VAT. Farmer cooperatives 

and agribusiness companies certified by the Government as “leading enterprises” do not have to pay 

VAT on agricultural commodities purchased from farmers. Fresh produce purchased by supermarkets directly from farmer cooperatives is exempt from VAT. 

In 2012, China’s Ministry of Finance declared domestic vegetable marketing sectors exempt from 

VAT.45 The exemption was focused on lowering domestic food costs and covered grading, cutting, 

washing, dehydration, cold-storage, freezing, and packaging of vegetables, mushrooms, and edible 

fungus and tree products. The exemption excluded canned vegetables.

45China Ministry of Finance, Notice on Waiver of Value Added Tax for Vegetable Distribution, Document 137(2011), 

December 21, 2011. http://finance.sina.com.cn/nongye/nyhgjj/20120109/091011155657.shtml
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Appendix 4—How Subsidy Funds Are Distributed

China’s agricultural subsidy funds are distributed through a bureaucratic chain that involves multiple 

levels and departments of government. Village officials compile lists of all households and their 

landholding or area planted in various crops (depending on the local method) and multiply the 

land area by the subsidy rates for the direct payment and the general-input subsidy to calculate the 

subsidy payments due each household. A separate list showing area planted in each crop is compiled 

for distribution of the seed subsidy. ERS reviewed dozens of these lists downloaded from local 

government websites, where they are publicly posted.

The lists are compiled by township and then passed up to county and provincial officials, and the 

funds due each locality are determined. Funds are allocated from provincial “grain risk funds” and 

transmitted to the county financial bureau, which deposits funds directly in a special bank account 

for each farm family. Township and village officials are bypassed in the distribution of funds to 

prevent any deductions or withholding.

Provincial finance bureaus note the high administrative costs of collecting and verifying information for distributing subsidies and surmise that some information reported to them is erroneous or 

fraudulent. 

In many areas, the subsidy is based on the family’s historical land holding or grain sales that were 

the basis for assessing the “agricultural tax” in the 1990s. In many regions, this land base is updated 

by deducting land removed from cultivation and adding newly cultivated land. When land is rented 

out to another cultivator, the subsidy often is paid to the holder of the land rights, not to the farmer 

who cultivates the land. 

When the subsidy program started, there many disputes because the subsidy payments were based 

on the same land holdings that previously had been the basis for assessing taxes. In earlier decades, 

many individuals and village officials had underreported land holdings to higher authorities to minimize tax liability. Consequently, some villages were not allocated enough money to pay subsidies to 

farmers. This phenomenon also raises questions about how authorities have adjusted crop-production 

statistics to correct for past underreporting of cropland.

A number of provinces distribute grain subsidies based on actual area planted in particular grain 

crops. However, the subsidy distribution takes place before crops are planted in the spring to stimulate production and ensure that farmers have funds to buy inputs. In such cases, the subsidy is based 

on the area of the previous year’s fall-harvested crops (corn, rice) and/or the area of winter wheat 

already planted.

In a few places, a subsidy is based on the volume of grain sold to government reserves. In a number 

of southeastern provinces, companies that manage local reserves sign contracts with farmers to 

purchase rice at the minimum price plus a premium for each kilogram delivered.
54

Growth and Evolution in China’s Agricultural Support Policies, ERR-153

Economic Research Service/USDA