The socio-environmental challenges for China’s palm oil business in Indonesia

On March 8, 2022, dozens of Indonesian contract farmers gathered in front of the local parliament building at Sintang, West Kalimantan, to protest against three palm oil companies. These contract farmers, also known as ‘plasma smallholders’, work under a scheme with a company which sends field workers to plant on the farmers’ land in return for part of the harvest.

Along with two Indonesian companies, the Chinese company PT Julong Group Indonesia was accused of disbursing a concession fee that the contract farmers claimed to be too low and not reflective of the rising price of palm fruit. Julong was also accused of land grabbing—taking over local land illegally for palm oil cultivation.

In response, the leader of the local parliament visited the land under dispute, along with hundreds of contract farmers, but Julong was absent. To press for a response, the protesters besieged the company’s office, which further escalated to blocking the road to the company’s complex. The conflict lasted for 12 days and ended only after the local parliamentarians held closed-door mediation.