GULI COUNTY, CHINA // In Maoist China, Xu Jianhua, a farmer from the eastern province of Jiangsu, would have been denounced as a class enemy.
His crime would have been owning more land than what he needed to feed his family.
He would probably have been publicly humiliated for his bourgeois ways and stripped of most of his property.
Today, though, farmers like Mr Xu are getting attention from the government for an entirely different reason - they are being held up as the great hope for China's lagging agricultural sector.
"Losses have been reduced and our speed has increased, since I took over this land " said Mr Xu.
"If more farmers were to adopt our model we would be able to provide more and better food for our country."
To the developed world Mr Xu's farm is nothing special. At just over 15 hectares it is smaller than most European farms and much less well equipped.
But by Chinese standards the 200-metre-long wheat field that Mr Xu was harvesting on the morning The National visited is enormous and his use of a combine harvester, a machine that cuts and threshes crops, is cutting edge.
China may be the world's second largest economy but its agricultural sector is distinctly pre-industrial in most places.
"Chinese agriculture lags behind that of the United States, Great Britain and Japan by more than 100 years," a report by the Chinese Academy of Sciences said last summer. "Without agricultural modernisation China's modernisation will be incomplete."
More than half of China's arable land is still divided into smallholdings that measure less than 0.6 hectares and tractor usage - a key indicator of how much labour is still done by animal or by hand - is only a quarter of that of developed countries, the report said.
Perhaps the most striking figure was that 40 per cent of the population still relied on agriculture to make a living even though it only contributed 10 per cent to the county's domestic product - an illustration of the massive urban rural divide that has formed over the three decades since China's economy began to boom.
"Without a change in policy China will not be able to catch up with agriculture in the developed world this century," the report said.
Aside from being embarrassing for China's ruling Communist Party, failure to close the gap could also have massive social, economic and even political consequences.
Many of China's recent food scandals - including the mass poisoning of infants with melamine-laced baby formula in 2008 - can be linked in part to the fact that large-scale producers still have to source most of their raw materials from hundreds of small-scale farms, over whose production methods they have little control.
Another source of public dissatisfaction in recent years has been the rising price of food.
Because China has so little arable land - it is home to one sixth of the world's population but only 10 per cent of its farmable land - it has to devote much of it to growing staple crops in order to maintain food security, experts say.
This means other foods are more expensive because they are in shorter supply or have to be imported.
But the biggest concern is that, without an agrarian overhaul, China's urbanisation drive - the central component of the government's plan for continued economic growth - will fail.
Li Keqiang, the Chinese premier and architect of the country's long-term growth model, has said at least 10 million people need to move into towns and cities each year so as to contribute to the economy and to free up enough land to grow crops to feed the country.
However, as yet there is no clear plan for how this will happen.
Another issue is how to use the land that is left behind.
One solution, which has been attempted in a few provinces already, is to grant usage rights directly to agricultural corporations that have the money and expertise to boost yields quickly.
But this seems to sit uncomfortably with the leadership of the party, which did, after all, start out as a movement of workers and peasants.
The party may also be wary of companies moving into farming just to get access to land and of moving too many people off the land too quickly, Jia Xiangping from the Centre for Chinese Agricultural Policy said.
"This is something that needs to be done carefully," he said.
As a compromise, they have encouraged companies to work with farmers like Mr Xu to create so called "Family Farms" - farms run by people who have a generational connection to the land, just as in Europe and America,
Since 2007 it has been legal for individuals to increase the size of their government allotted plots by renting adjoining land left behind by people who have gone to work in the cities.
But because all of the land in China is owned by the state, farmers cannot get a mortgage on the land they are working so that they have the capital needed to make it thrive.
Mr Xu solved that problem by working with a company called Tianniang, which provides him with organic fertiliser and heavy machinery in return for Mr Xu selling them a fixed amount of rice and wheat grown to their standards.
They also provide modern agricultural training to the 37 farmers they work with and sell their products under one recognisable brand that promotes its organic qualities - a major selling point after a recent food scare involving cadmium-tainted rice.
So in tune is Tianniang with China's new model for agriculture that Li Keqiang gave it his seal of approval shortly after he became premier in March.
"You are moving in the right direction," he said. "Family farms, joint partnerships and farmers' cooperatives are the future of modern agriculture. Your experience will benefit not only Jiangsu but also the whole country."
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
ADCC AFC Women’s Champions League Group A fixtures
October 3: v Wuhan Jiangda Women’s FC
October 6: v Hyundai Steel Red Angels Women’s FC
October 9: v Sabah FA
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Anxiety and work stress major factors
Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.
A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.
Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.
One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.
It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."
Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.
“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi.
“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."
Daniel Bardsley
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Specs%20
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