Why and how is China reordering the food regime? The Brazil-China soy-meat complex and COFCO’s global strategy in the Southern Cone
Valdemar João Wesz, Fabiano Escher, Tomaz Mefano Fares
Abstract
Chinese agricultural investments in the Southern Cone and the Brazil-China soy-meat complex are playing a pivotal role in the international reordering of the contemporary food regime. China's neo-mercantilist strategy, as exemplified by COFCO, carries elements of both continuity and rupture with this process. With an assertive yet flexible strategy, COFCO has adapted to China's internal requirements, the specificities of host countries, the geopolitical tensions with the US, and global competitors' corporate power. COFCO's strategy reflects the successful Chinese integration into the capitalist world system and the pursuit of a self-reliant food security policy by setting its own terms for global agribusiness engagement.