Conaway, A&M officials plan million-acre Chinese ranches
Bob Campbell, Staff Writer
Midland Reporter-Telegram
05/06/2007
Congressman Mike Conaway of Midland met recently in Beijing, China, with officials of Texas A&M University and the People's Republic of China to lay plans for modernizing the beef cattle industry in the world's most populous nation.
The stakes -- and steaks -- are intriguing for A&M, which reported Friday that it will be involved for at least the next few years; China, which wants to feed its increasingly affluent society better; and a Seattle company that wants to set up five one-million-acre ranches and even a horse racing endeavor.
"The cow-calf operations and packing houses would be state of the art and an opportunity for American companies to sell a lot of equipment to China," said Conaway, who returned April 24. "China has 1.3 billion people and we in the U.S. don't understand the scope of that market.
"They have 17 million in Shanghai, 15 million in Beijing and 1,200 cities with over a million each. They're adding 1,000 cars a day to the traffic in Beijing and these are not folks who have been driving. They've been on bicycles."
With everyone in rural China yearning for city life, Conaway said, the government is anxious to bolster the rural economy and keep its indigenous population in place.
The Americans met with officials including Liu Fuchen, CEO of the China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Import and Export Corp., and Fang Fenglei, chief representative there of the Goldman Sachs global investment firm. A&M lobbyist Larry Meyers of Washington proffered Aeromotor Windmills of San Angelo's bid to bring windmills to the ranches.
Dr. Elsa Murano, A&M's vice chancellor and dean of agricultural and life sciences, returned to College Station April 27 after visiting Inner Mongolia's Hulun Buir region of northern China.
She also saw areas in western China where ranches might go, accompanied by Dr. Russell Cross, deputy vice chancellor and associate agriculture and life sciences dean, and Dr. Steven Whisenant, head of the A&M Rangeland Ecology and Management Department. They signed an agreement with the Chinese government to form a steering committee for the projects.
Conaway said China faces such problems as a questionable human rights record, holding its currency, the renminbi or RMB, at an artifically high level, and allowing the piracy of computer and entertainment products. Though the country holds billions in U.S. government bonds, conaway isn't concerned that it could have "a mass fire sale" of and cause the bonds' value to drop.
"These are fixed maturity bonds and I'm not worried about the Chinese doing something that is not in their own best interest," he said. "I am more concerned that we've got that much debt than I am about who actually owns the debt.
"You can stick your head in the sand if you want to, but China is going to be a player in the world's consumer markets."
Murano was heartened enough to project a two to three year involvement by the A&M System. "Doug Anderson and Flying Horse Ltd. of Seattle approached us a few months ago and hired us on a contract basis to assess issues specific to beef cattle and horses," she said.
"We visited with China Agriculture University in Beijing about training their people in the business and ecological aspects with respect to sustainability and conservation. It is potentially a very significant activity."
Teaching the Chinese to grow animals and set up inspection and food safety programs is also part of what Murano and her colleagues envision. Horse racing is a long-term goal with the beef cattle ranches to come first.
She said "bio-energy" is projected with grass and corn to be turned into alternative fuels and "ecotourism" to take foreign visitors into China's pristine areas. "Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai used to be seas of people on bicycles, but now there is nothing but cars, restaurants and hotels," Murano said.
mywesttexas.com
Bob Campbell, Staff Writer
Midland Reporter-Telegram
05/06/2007
Congressman Mike Conaway of Midland met recently in Beijing, China, with officials of Texas A&M University and the People's Republic of China to lay plans for modernizing the beef cattle industry in the world's most populous nation.
The stakes -- and steaks -- are intriguing for A&M, which reported Friday that it will be involved for at least the next few years; China, which wants to feed its increasingly affluent society better; and a Seattle company that wants to set up five one-million-acre ranches and even a horse racing endeavor.
"The cow-calf operations and packing houses would be state of the art and an opportunity for American companies to sell a lot of equipment to China," said Conaway, who returned April 24. "China has 1.3 billion people and we in the U.S. don't understand the scope of that market.
"They have 17 million in Shanghai, 15 million in Beijing and 1,200 cities with over a million each. They're adding 1,000 cars a day to the traffic in Beijing and these are not folks who have been driving. They've been on bicycles."
With everyone in rural China yearning for city life, Conaway said, the government is anxious to bolster the rural economy and keep its indigenous population in place.
The Americans met with officials including Liu Fuchen, CEO of the China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Import and Export Corp., and Fang Fenglei, chief representative there of the Goldman Sachs global investment firm. A&M lobbyist Larry Meyers of Washington proffered Aeromotor Windmills of San Angelo's bid to bring windmills to the ranches.
Dr. Elsa Murano, A&M's vice chancellor and dean of agricultural and life sciences, returned to College Station April 27 after visiting Inner Mongolia's Hulun Buir region of northern China.
She also saw areas in western China where ranches might go, accompanied by Dr. Russell Cross, deputy vice chancellor and associate agriculture and life sciences dean, and Dr. Steven Whisenant, head of the A&M Rangeland Ecology and Management Department. They signed an agreement with the Chinese government to form a steering committee for the projects.
Conaway said China faces such problems as a questionable human rights record, holding its currency, the renminbi or RMB, at an artifically high level, and allowing the piracy of computer and entertainment products. Though the country holds billions in U.S. government bonds, conaway isn't concerned that it could have "a mass fire sale" of and cause the bonds' value to drop.
"These are fixed maturity bonds and I'm not worried about the Chinese doing something that is not in their own best interest," he said. "I am more concerned that we've got that much debt than I am about who actually owns the debt.
"You can stick your head in the sand if you want to, but China is going to be a player in the world's consumer markets."
Murano was heartened enough to project a two to three year involvement by the A&M System. "Doug Anderson and Flying Horse Ltd. of Seattle approached us a few months ago and hired us on a contract basis to assess issues specific to beef cattle and horses," she said.
"We visited with China Agriculture University in Beijing about training their people in the business and ecological aspects with respect to sustainability and conservation. It is potentially a very significant activity."
Teaching the Chinese to grow animals and set up inspection and food safety programs is also part of what Murano and her colleagues envision. Horse racing is a long-term goal with the beef cattle ranches to come first.
She said "bio-energy" is projected with grass and corn to be turned into alternative fuels and "ecotourism" to take foreign visitors into China's pristine areas. "Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai used to be seas of people on bicycles, but now there is nothing but cars, restaurants and hotels," Murano said.
mywesttexas.com