In 2018, a cluster of buildings resembling a Silicon Valley corporate campus popped up in the middle of Chongzhou County, a farming region in southwest China. Owned and operated by Syngenta Group, one of the world’s largest agribusiness conglomerates, the buildings house something called a Modern Agriculture Platform (MAP), and inside, Syngenta employees encourage local farmers to accelerate “modernization and rural revitalization in China.”
In various MAP hubs across the country — complete with scientific labs, high-tech greenhouses, and classrooms splashed with the words “In Science We Trust” on their walls — Syngenta staffers run soil samples, suggest suitable crops for individual plots of land and provide crop protection advice, digital imaging and drone services. They also sell seeds, fertilizers and pesticides. The idea, as Syngenta chief executive J. Erik Fyrwald told Chinese state media, is to deliver a “full service solution center for farmers.” 
Exclusive longform investigative journalism, Q&As, news and analysis, and data on Chinese business elites and corporations. We publish China scoops you won't find anywhere else.
A weekly curated reading list on China from David Barboza, Pulitzer Prize-winning former Shanghai correspondent for The New York Times.
A daily roundup of China finance, business and economics headlines.
We offer discounts for groups, institutions and students. Go to our Subscriptions page for details.
Why is one of Taiwan's largest media groups — Want Want China Times Media Group — spreading anti-U.S. rhetoric? Largely because its billionaire owner, Tsai Eng-meng, is known to sympathize with the Chinese Communist Party and favors unification with the mainland. Now, with Taiwan gearing up for a critical presidential election, Want Want’s efforts are picking up and helping to normalize CCP talking points.
A look at ZPMC: how it came to dominate ports around the world; its role in Chinese foreign policy; and the consequences of its links to the Chinese state.
The author and academic talks about how trade has actually changed over the last 40 years; why China's rise is linked to Asia's regionalization; and why international supply chains are efficient and resilient.