The Development of a Vegetable 'Importation Development' System in China : A Case Study of Export-oriented Welsh Onions

Abstract

Using the 'importation development' of Welsh onions as a study case, this paper examines the development of a vegetable 'importation development' system in a collaborated-company in China. The 'importation development' of Welsh onions can be divided into three stages: the introductory period, the expansion period, and the reorganization period. The characteristic and transformation process of each stage was analyzed using a specific example. Three main points were defined in the study. First, in the introductory period, the Japanese company played the role as the leader in the 'importation development' of Welsh onions, and monopolized the operation system was prosecuted in a collaborated-company formed by the Japanese and the Chinese company. Second, in the expansion period, due to the rapid increase of 'importation development' and the importation of Welsh onions to Japan, the monopolized operation in the introductory period was broken, being transformed into a free marketing system. Nevertheless, rapid production and exportation has caused problems such as over production and decline of quality; as a result, the 'importation development' shifted from an expansion period to a reorganization period. In the reorganization period, due to the change of management strategy and the improvement of quality by the Japanese side, the Chinese viewed this as an opportunity to make production independent and reorganize the structure of the cargo collection and alter the marketing from the exportation to Japan solely to the expansion of the distribution in the China for the local market. For 'importation development' of Welsh onions, the production, processing, and exportation/marketing in the local market has been unified. Clearly, 'importation development' has played an important role in the 'industrialization of agriculture' in China.