Journal of Food Law & Policy Volume 16 Number 1 Article 8 "A Glass of Milk Strengthens a Nation." Law Development, and China's Dairy Tale Xiaoqian Hu University of Arizona Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jflp Part of the Chinese Studies Commons, Cultural History Commons, Economic History Commons, Food and Drug Law Commons, Labor History Commons, and the Property Law and Real Estate Commons Recommended Citation Hu, X. (2020). "A Glass of Milk Strengthens a Nation." Law Development, and China's Dairy Tale. Journal of Food Law & Policy, 16(1). Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jflp/vol16/iss1/8 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Food Law & Policy by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Volume Sixteen Number One Spring 2020 “A GLASS OF MILK STRENGTHENS A NATION.” LAW, DEVELOPMENT, AND CHINA’S DAIRY TALE Xiaoqian Hu A PUBLICATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS SCHOOL OF LAW “A Glass of Milk Strengthens a Nation.” Law, Development, and China’s Dairy Tale Xiaoqian Hu* Abstract Historically, China was a soybean nation and not a dairy nation. Today, China has become the world’s largest dairy importer and third largest dairy producer, and dairy has surpassed soybeans in both consumption volume and sales revenue. This article investigates the legal, political, and socioeconomic factors that drove this transformation, and building upon fieldwork in two Chinese counties, examines the transformation’s socioeconomic impact on China’s several hundred million farmers and ex-farmers and political impact on the Chinese regime.