China’s growing appetite for pork (PBS NewsHour, Part 1)

China’s growing appetite for pork (PBS NewsHour, Part 1)

China is unable to feed itself. Its appetite has grown too large, too fast.

Last year, a Chinese company bought Smithfield Foods, the iconic ham brand and America’s largest pork producer in the largest Chinese purchase of an American business.

The deal came two years after China’s communist government issued an edict directing its food industry to scour the globe in search of agricultural resources, prompting concerns about the government’s role in the takeover.

Part 1 examines the Bank of China’s role in the deal and Shuanghui International’s relationship with the government.

 

 This story was originally produced for the Center for Investigative Reporting and ran on the PBS NewsHour
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