CHINA’S EMERGENCE FROM ZERO-COVID There is increasing evidence that agriculture is a key contributor to the environmental issues of our time. These include a loss of biodiversity, water and soil pollution, and the emission of greenhouse gasses. The latter is also the cause of what is colloquially referred to as global warming and although consumer and investor pressures are mounting to address the broader problems related to Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues, the climate agenda has played center stage in this. This section, therefore, deals with climate change. More specifically, we consider how it is defined and regulated and what the risks and opportunities associated with it are for South African agricultural producers. How China’s emergence from zero-COVID can shape economies and markets over the coming months What happens in China does not stay in China. This was clear from global economic recoveries over the past decade. China played a key role in getting global growth out of the doldrums after the 2008 financial crisis and the global commodity price downturn in 2015. It also served as the catalyst for rapidly increasing commodity prices in 2021 and 2022, as the Western world’s demand for Chinese manufactured goods increased as pandemic lockdowns in the West eased. In light of this, and with China emerging from its zero-COVID policy after three years, we explore the following questions: What are the implications of this for agricultural markets around the globe and in South Africa? What is the effect of this on global and local macroeconomic variables? Will the Chinese economic recovery after COVID-19, again serve as an injection for global growth?
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