China has stepped up its grain purchases in the first two months of the year to fill a growing domestic Food shortage.
On Thursday (March 18), data released by the General Administration of Customs of the Communist Party of China showed that China imported nearly 5 million tons of corn in January and February this year, more than five times the amount imported in the same period last year, including a record monthly high of 3 million tons in January.
Specifically, China imported 1.78 million tons of corn in February, up 556.6% from a year earlier; China imported 3.01 million tons of corn in January, up 356% from a year earlier; and wheat imports more than tripled to 2.5 million tons, including 1.5 million tons in January, the highest monthly import volume in at least 20 years.
Bloomberg reported on March 19 that China is facing a shortage of agricultural products as its arable land is declining but demand for food is increasing. Currently, Chinese Communist Party officials are advocating for reducing food waste and increasing food production.
In addition, China is the largest producer and consumer of pork, and has been importing record amounts of corn and soybeans from overseas to feed its huge herd of pigs.
Earlier this year, China purchased nearly 6 million tons of U.S. corn in one week, and the USDA announced that it sold another 2.4 million tons of corn this week. The USDA expects U.S. feed grain imports to more than triple this year, to 24 million tons.
Recently, the Chinese Communist Party has been emphasizing the issue of “food security,” and on February 21, the Communist Party’s Central Committee released its No. 1 document, which places special emphasis on food security, requiring provinces to increase grain production during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025). “Improve the ability to guarantee the supply of grain and important agricultural products.”
Tang Renjian, Minister of Agriculture of the Communist Party of China, said at a press conference on Feb. 22 that China’s grain supply and demand are not wide and have been in a tight balance. And with population growth, there will be a rigid increase in food demand. As the uncertainty and instability of the external situation has increased significantly, the issue of food security cannot be taken lightly for a moment, and food security must not go wrong.
On August 17, 2020, the Institute of rural Development of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences released a report stating that China is likely to have a grain deficit of about 130 million tons by 2025, with a deficit of about 25 million tons of cereals (the three major staples).
Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics of the Communist Party of China in December 2018 showed that China’s total grain production in 2018 was 1,315.8 billion jin, down 7.4 billion jin, or 0.6 percent, from 2017. China’s grain self-sufficiency rate dropped to about 82.3% and its cereal self-sufficiency rate dropped to about 95%.
The world standard for food security set by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is 90% self-sufficiency, and this grain includes all major categories such as grains, soybeans and corn.
He Qinglian, a well-known Chinese economist in the United States, pointed out that China’s grain self-sufficiency rate is about 82.3%, in other words, the grain deficit is 17.7%, and China does not meet the food security standard set by the UN FAO.
Concerned about food security, the CCP increased grain imports during the CCP virus Epidemic in 2020, importing more than 140 million tons of grain that year, an all-Time record.
According to official data released by CCP Customs at the end of 2020, in terms of grains, corn imports reached 1.23 million tons in November, soaring 1,142.2 percent year-on-year; the annual cumulative corn imports between January and November were 9.04 million tons, up 122.8 percent year-on-year; wheat imports were 800,000 tons in November, up 77.6 percent year-on-year, and the annual cumulative imports were 7.49 million tons, up 150.6%; barley imports in November was 1.11 million tons, an increase of 170.7%; the annual total imports of 7.1 million tons, an increase of 24.8%.
Recent Comments