In a special feature, SMU Associate Professor of Social Sciences Forrest Zhang spoke about his research on agriculture in China. He found out how vibrant the rural economy was and how it had become highly commercialised. He said that rural villages were finding niches in China’s economy by growing produce such as pine mushrooms highly sought after in Japan, or the rare and expensive cordyceps fungus prized in traditional Chinese medicine. There was no local market but entrepreneurs wanted to capitalise on the suitable climate and thus brought in new products, the technology and know-how, signed a contract with the farmers and then exported the produce to other countries. He also mentioned that there could be opportunities for Singapore companies with the relevant technologies to venture into the Chinese agricultural market.
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