Opening up fields of cooperation with outside world

China has long controlled its staple grain import quota to ensure food security. But the nation's agricultural sector is welcoming high-end farming products from Europe.

Syngenta AG, the largest European producer of hybrid seeds and crop protection products, is just one of the foreign companies contributing to China's agricultural development.

Christoph Maeder, member of the executive board of Syngenta AG, said: "We are ... developing new technology which should enable farmers, together with the right agronomic knowledge, to really improve productivity, and thereby also producing more sustainable farming methods."