"The Fuhua Group is looking at one million hectares of land which has the support of the development bank of China with Y30 billion (P180 billion). If this can help develop Philippine agriculture, it will really be a very big help," Yap said.

"Somehow I'm seeing that there's going to be a food security problem in the coming years. A big group like that (may help us find the answer)."

China targets to produce four million MT of ethanol and two million MT of biodiesel by 2010, according to a US report, which will be tapped from renewable sources as basic crops corn, cassava, and sweet sorghum.

Yap said government has identified easily two million hectares of idle land -- one million hectares with the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and another one million hectares under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The CDB, which earned a net profit of $ 2 billion in 2004 and is deemed most profitable bank in China and second most profitable in Asia, reportedly has an asset of $ 350 billion. It had outstanding loan of Y1.5 trillion in 2004 and funded large China infrastructure projects including the Three Gorges Dam and the Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

"One of the governors came here last month and was able to talk with NEDA (National Economic Development Authority) and DoF (Department of Finance). This is not debt. They're coming to invest, government will not pay for anything," said an industry authority.

The Fuhua Group has started field testing of hybrid corn in the Philippines some three years ago (over six to seven seasons) and has proven its corn yield comparable with best locally-grown corn. These are in Bukidnon, Iloilo, Bohol, Tarlac, and Nueva Ecija.

It plans to put up ethanol processing plants which will the enable the Philippines to tap this renewable energy resource and also export both ethanol and corn to China while becoming corn selfsufficient.

"It's hard to believe it, but China can do a big surprise here (as much as what it did in China). It will go in stages and will go to downstream industries," the official said.

Sweet sorghum which is now used in India to run an ethanol plant in commercial scale will also be planted by the Fuhua Group also to beef up China's ethanol supply.

China has adopted a national ethanol program to promote E-10 (90 percent gasoline and 10 percent ethanol mix) for automobiles. Under this, it will meet its 15 percent energy requirement for transportation by 2020 from various inputs--corn, wheat, sugar, cassava, sweet sorghum, and oilseeds.

China produced in 2005 a total of 920,000 metric tons (MT) of ethanol from a production capacity of 1.02 million MT. For biodiesel, it produced a lower 100,000 to 200,000 MT. China has also been accelerating biodiesel production as it is now using two times more diesel than gasoline mainly due to farm mechanization and widespread use of truck farms.

It is stepping up its ethanol production as there is an effective ban on gasoline imports. There are only four state-owned firms allowed to import gasoline. China is also set to launch a cassava ethanol plant in 2007.

Fuhua which owns the world's second largest corn processing facility just next to the one in the US earlier signed an agreement with a local company for the planting of hybrid corn here. This is in coordination with local governments including with Camarines Sur Gov Luis Raymund F. Villafuerte, Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca, and in Nueva Ecija Gov. Tomas N. Joson III.