Over 95 percent of sugarbeet production is concentrated in the Northeast and Northwest regions, with Heilongjiang, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia contributing about 75 percent of the total. Within this, Heilongjiang and eastern Inner Mongolia account for around 55 percent of total area. However, beet production is facing increased pressure from competing crops in the traditional Northeast area of Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Inner Mongolia. Maize is the principal substitute crop, which gives returns twice those of sugarbeet. In Xinjiang, however, production continues to expand with price support and input subsidies to growers from the provincial government.
Producers are free to plant the crops of their choice.
Returns from sugarcane are, on average, not as competitive as those from fruits, vegetables, grains, and oilseeds. For this reason, diversification into other crops is pushing sugarcane production from the east to the west of southern China where there is less competition from alternative crops. The higher yields of the former are attributed mainly to irrigation. This yield is exceptionally low by world standards. Some of the reasons given for the lower yields include drought, plant disease, shorter sunshine hours and smaller differences in temperature between day and night in key growing areas.