Yesterday it was reported that:
China has inked a deal to farm three million hectares (paywall), or about 11, 583 square miles of Ukrainian land over the span of half a century—which means the eastern European country will give up about 5% of its total land, or 9% of its arable farmland to feed China’s burgeoning population.
and
Given its dwindling available farmland and expanding population, China has been among the most aggressive. The country eats about one-fifth of the world’s food supplies, but is home to just 9% of the world’s farmland, thanks to rapid industrialization and urbanization of the formerly agrarian nation. Its deal with Ukraine is its biggest farmland investment yet. Since 2007, China has bought farmland (pdf) in South America, Southeast Asia and Africa.But, an update was posted this morning:
Ukraine’s KSG Agro released a statement today, Sept. 24, denying reports that it had reached an agreement to sell 3 million hectares to a Chinese firm. Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post had reported a deal between KSG Agro and China’s Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, (XPCC) in which China would be able to farm the area for up to 50 years.