More than half of China’s foreign agricultural investment is within Asia, but the focus has become more global

Chinese foreign agricultural investment has grown exponentially since 2009. Initial investment growth was primarily aimed at expanding access to crop production, fishing ventures, and raw materials. Most such ventures targeted eastern Russia and neighboring Asian countries, attracted by relatively cheap, underutilized land. Chinese investments in Southeast Asia have focused on tropical crops like palm oil, cassava, sugar, fruit, and lumber, prompted by strong domestic demand and a regional free trade agreement with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Asia accounts for about half of China’s foreign investment in agriculture, forestry, and fishing. More recently, the strategy has moved toward acquiring established agribusiness companies around the world in regions like Europe, Oceania, Africa, and the Americas. Investment in North America, though, was limited to just 2 percent of reported foreign agricultural investment in 2014. This chart appears in the April 2018 Amber Waves feature, "China’s Agricultural Investment Abroad Is Rising."