Introduction: Agro-Food Markets in China in Light of Economic Sociology

Louis Augustin-Jean and Björn Alpermann

A chapter in The Political Economy of Agro-Food Markets in China, 2014, pp 1-24 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Two events that have raised concerns in China and beyond took place in the year 2008. One was the increase in food prices, for which China was, rightly or wrongly, deemed partly accountable. The second was the scandal related to the addition of melamine to milk powder, which was responsible for the death of at least six babies and the sickness of hundreds of thousands of others throughout China. If the first event is related to the quantity of available food and the second to its quality, both showed that China’s agro-food markets and their integration worldwide are of crucial importance. China is now a major importer of cotton, sugar, and soybeans, just to mention a few products. It also exports important volume of garment, tea, and wood products. At the same time, consumers worldwide worry when contaminated pet food is found on the shelves of their supermarkets or when Chinese travellers overseas buy large quantities of milk powder, thereby disrupting local supplies. Yet, if China’s agriculture is fairly well known, its agro-food markets have not attracted the attention they deserve. This book aims to compensate for this gap and provide an in-depth analysis of several key Chinese agro-food markets.

Keywords: World Trade Organization; Food Price; Market Institution; Food Market; Genetically Modify Organism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-137-27795-4_1

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DOI: 10.1057/9781137277954_1

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