'Sweet cause' in winter Guangxi official efforts to protect the sugar industry

Affected by multiple factors, the "sweet cause" of Guangxi, the largest producer of sugar in China, is experiencing a cold winter. In order to crack the dilemma of the sugar industry, Guangxi high level had to move around to save troops.

Guangxi is the largest sugar-producing province in China, accounting for more than 60% of the country's total sugar production. Affected by the decline in international sugar prices, coupled with high production costs, weak agricultural foundation, low degree of mechanization, and the poor ability of most sugar enterprises to resist risks, the sugar industry in Guangxi has been at a low ebb for years.

"In the 2015/2016 milling season, sugar prices recovered slightly, rising to about 5,300 yuan per ton." Guangxi Liuzhou sugar production office director She Jinwei recently interviewed with China News Service reporter, but by the winter rare heavy rainfall, labor cost growth and other factors, the cost of sugar production this season also rose to about 5500 yuan per ton, Guangxi sugar industry is still not optimistic.
"Heavy rainfall has reduced the sugar content of sugarcane, making it more difficult to harvest by hand. This year, planting sugarcane is not as fast as renting land to make money." Qin Jianshan, a sugar cane farmer in Liujiang County, Guangxi, said that in the past, every family in the village planted sugar cane, but now there are less than half of the sugar cane farmers.

The countryside where Tan Jianshan lives is a microcosm of sugar cane farmers in China. Affected by the continued downturn in the sugar market, the enthusiasm of sugarcane farmers has decreased significantly. Statistics show that in 2015/2016, the sugarcane planting area in Guangxi was about 12 million mu, 1.5 million mu less than in the previous season, a reduction of 12.5%.

In order to make the "sweet cause" reinvigorate, the Guangxi official issued the overall plan of "second entrepreneurship" in the sugar industry, launched China's first sugar cane price index insurance pilot work, stepped up the construction of the sugar industry big data service platform, sugar e-commerce platform, etc., and promoted the recovery of the sugar industry from many aspects.

In order to protect the interests of sugar industry and sugar cane farmers, Guangxi requested policy support from the central government. In 2015, the central budget invested 3 billion yuan to support the construction of 5 million mu of sugarcane base with high yield and high sugar in Guangxi. Speed up the improvement of Guangxi sugarcane management scale, planting improved varieties, production mechanization, water conservancy modernization level, reduce sugarcane production costs, increase the income of sugarcane farmers.

In addition to introducing a series of policies to inject a "tonic" into the "sweet cause", Guangxi is also seeking cooperation everywhere. At the end of 2014, Guangxi Nongken Sugar Group and Guangzhou Overseas Chinese Sugar Factory will invest 5 million yuan each to set up a joint venture company, give full play to market and resource advantages, and jointly build China's high-quality sugar core factory. The two sides are expected to take six years in three steps to achieve total sales revenue of 10 billion yuan by 2020.

"The sugar industry involves national sugar security and the vital interests of more than 20 million sugar cane farmers and more than 100,000 industrial workers in Guangxi, and we must do everything possible to preserve it." Peng Qinghua, Party chief of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous region, said that although the sugar industry has encountered problems, the sugar industry is not a sunset industry, and it will be revitalizing by relying on scientific and technological innovation.

In January this year, when Peng Qinghua met with members of Hong Kong and Macao attending the Guangxi CPPCC meeting, he once again talked about the potential prospects of the sugar industry and invited businessmen from Hong Kong and Macao to participate in the "second entrepreneurship" of the sugar industry in Guangxi.