"As part of the recently issued new 5-Year Plan, food safety and agro food have been named as focus industries by the Chinese government. The increased focus on the development of the Chinese potato industry, and the use of processed potato products as a nutritious ingredient for other food products are just an example of this. The deployment of various efficient greenhouse projects to boost domestic production of high quality and safely grown produce is also part of this plan."
Olde Monnikhof said that China is aware of the fact that it will need to implement advanced, sustainable technologies to meet the growing demand for safely produced food. "But the transfer of knowledge to learn to use and operate these technologies is of greater importance. Therefore practical guidance and training of local people plays a crucial role. Dutch vocational educator Lentiz has given several Vocational Training sessions in the Netherlands as well as in China in order to provide education at various levels. These are important developments the Chinese and their counterparts are working on."
Eurostat Figures showing the value of Dutch greenhouse structures exports in 2016. China is the third largest export market by value for the Dutch greenhouses (structures only)
Another important development is the realization of the Chinese-style solar greenhouse at Wageningen UR in Holland. Here, a group of Dutch researchers and suppliers will study how the implementation of adaptive Dutch greenhouse technology can be aligned to Chinese circumstances. "China has hundred thousands of hectares with solar greenhouses, and optimizing and increasing the production in these existing structures will also be an important transitional step towards modern practices."
The Dutch Agricultural Counselor expects a lot from the Chinese greenhouse industry in the next few years. "China has a growing middle class of about 400 to 500 million people that have a lot of money to spend on safely grown produce. They do not trust very much the current supply of products on the market and demand security in the form of food produced in safe environments. This provides serious room for growth in the greenhouse industry, but also on the import side. The agricultural staff of the Netherlands Embassy in Beijing is closely involved in opening the Chinese market to more agricultural products from the Netherlands and is available to help Dutch agri-suppliers to expand their markets in China.
For more information
The Netherlands Embassy in Beijing
Martin Olde Monnikhof, Agricultural Counsellor (follow on Twitter)
mwm.oldemonnikhof@minbuza.nl
www.rijksoverheid.nl