The shutdown of Asia’s largest maize refiner has left thousands of corn farmers in north-eastern China unpaid, adding to the unintended consequences of China’s policy of artificially propping up corn prices.
亚洲最大玉米深加工企业大成生化科技(Global Bio-Chem Technology)陷入停产，令中国东北数千名种植玉米的农民粮款被拖欠，这是中国人为抬高玉米价格的政策的又一个意外后果。
China this month cut the price at which its state reserves buy corn, but maintained the minimum price well above international market prices. Inflated Chinese prices have caused state reserves to bloat and attracted unprecedented imports while destroying margins for corn processors, feed companies and other private agricultural firms that are the mainstay of the rural economy.
中国本月下调了国家临时存储玉米收购价格，但所维持的最低收购价仍远高于国际市场价格。中国玉米价格被抬高已造成国家储备膨胀，并吸引了空前大量的进口，同时让玉米深加工企业、饲料企业以及其他对农村经济起到支柱作用的民营农企不复盈利。
Global Bio-Chem Technology, the third-largest corn refiner in the world, has suspended all operations, Chinese media reported at the weekend, after announcements by the company that some of its lossmaking production lines had been halted. Calls to Global Bio-Chem went unanswered and the local government declined to comment.
大成生化科技是全球第三大玉米深加工企业，据中国媒体上周末报道，大成现已暂停所有业务，此前该公司发布公告称部分生产线因亏损已停产。大成生化科技的电话无人应答，当地政府也拒绝就此发表评论。
Farmers have protested in Changchun, the capital of Jilin province and heart of China’s corn belt, claiming the company’s shutdown has left them with unpaid bills. In one protest last month dozens of farmers knelt in front of the municipal government offices.
农民们在吉林省会长春（中国玉米种植带的中心）举行了抗议，称大成的停产导致他们粮款被拖欠。在上个月的一次抗议活动中，几十名农民在长春市政府门前长跪不起。
“We tried to find the boss but couldn’t find him. Many people in my village sold to them,” said farmer Lian Haikuan from Jilin’s Nongan County, who began petitioning authorities after bills went unpaid for two years. Mr Liao said he sold corn to Global Bio-Chem on credit because the company promised above-market prices.
吉林省农安县农民连海宽（音译）说：“我们想找到老板，可找不到他。我们村很多人都把粮卖给了他们。”连海宽的账款被拖欠了两年，此后他开始不断上访。他说自己之所以将玉米赊销给大成生化科技，是因为该公司允诺的价格高于市场价。
“The government pays no attention to the people! I may as well go home and plant sweet potato!” one distraught corn farmer with three years’ unpaid bills wrote in an online post.
一名粮款被拖欠了三年、心急如焚的玉米农在网上发帖写道：“当官不为民做主，不如回家卖红薯！”
China’s minimum price policy is designed to maintain stable incomes for farmers and guarantee national food security by ensuring they plant corn even if prices dip. But the market distortions created by the minimum price have left policymakers with a dilemma, since abandoning the policy could cause prices to crash.
中国的最低价格政策原本是为了维持农民的稳定收入，并通过确保即便玉米价格下跌农民也会种植玉米，来保障国家粮食安全。但最低价格导致市场扭曲，令政策制定者陷入进退两难的境地，因为放弃该政策可能导致价格崩溃。
Hong Kong-listed Global Bio-Chem said in its annual report last week that it had suspended production of lysine, an ingredient used to feed pigs and chickens, as state-set corn prices stayed high while its sales prices fell sharply.
大成生化科技在香港上市，上周该公司在其中期报告中表示，因国家规定的玉米价格居高不下，而赖氨酸销售价格大幅下跌，该公司已暂停生产这种猪和鸡饲料添加剂。
It had also stopped refining corn into a chemical feedstock, as falling oil prices made its product uncompetitive. It also makes corn sweeteners and corn starch, which it said had been rendered unprofitable by high corn prices.
大成生化科技还停止了生物化工醇的生产，因为油价下跌令它的产品丧失了竞争力。该公司还制造玉米甜味剂和玉米变性淀粉，但该公司表示，由于玉米价格过高，这些产品已无利可图。
High raw materials costs have impeded Chinese corn refiners’ ability to export lysine. The Chinese industry accounts for about 80 per cent of global lysine production and about a third of its consumption. Domestic demand has dropped as poorer margins on pork-rearing and outbreaks of bird flu led farmers to cull animals. Lucy Hornby
原料成本过高拖累了中国玉米深加工企业出口赖氨酸的能力。中国玉米深加工行业占全球赖氨酸生产的约80%，占赖氨酸消费的约三分之一。由于养猪利润变薄，加上禽流感爆发导致农户选择性宰杀活禽，中国国内对赖氨酸的需求已下降。