China’s Xi Jinping repeats call for food security as US rivalry and external uncertainties grow

Grain security has been marked out as a pillar of national security for China, as tensions with the US escalate
Stable and safe supplies are top priorities in nation’s quest to become an agricultural powerhouse, President Xi Jinping tells annual rural work conference

Food and agriculture

Guo Rui

Published: 8:05pm, 25 Dec 2022

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China has pledged to ensure stable grain supply and strengthen technological self-reliance in agricultural production, as it pushes for rural revitalisation to counter economic headwinds and weather geopolitical complications.

“Ensuring a stable and safe supply of grain and important agricultural products are of the utmost importance to establish an agricultural powerhouse,” President Xi Jinping told a key annual work conference on rural issues.

He also called for efforts to increase grain output and the quality of arable land, as well as achieve new breakthroughs in home-grown high-yield seeds.

“We should rely on ourselves to hold the rice bowl steady,” state media quoted Xi as saying at the Central Rural Work Conference in Beijing.

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The two-day event, which wrapped up on Saturday, aimed to lay out the major priorities for the coming year.

“Arable land and seeds are the two vital points, [the country should] gradually build all the permanent basic farmland into high-standard farmland [and] revitalise the seed industry, [especially] the important varieties,” Xi said, according to state news agency Xinhua.

Grain security has been marked out as a pillar of national security as tensions with the US escalate.

The urgency for this was further underscored this year, when prices of staple foods soared as Russia’s prolonged military action in Ukraine disrupted global grain and commodities markets.

Amid Ukraine and Covid-19, Xi puts China’s food security in focus

Xi made a similar call for food security days ahead of last year’s rural work conference.

“The food of the Chinese people must be made by and remain in the hands of the Chinese … Everyone needs to take responsibility for food security,” he was quoted as saying by state broadcaster CCTV last December.

Earlier this month, China reported another bumper year for grain production despite record droughts and floods, and continued disruption due to zero-Covid controls.

Grain output reached a record high of 686.53 million tonnes in 2022, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

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Xi also urged the sector to reduce grain loss and boost research and development, to increase self-reliance in core seeds and crucial agricultural equipment.

These are key to increasing grain yield, but have long been a weak link in China’s agricultural production.

Xi said efforts must be made to prevent a return to poverty for rural areas and to increase farmers’ incomes, both of which are part of his push for rural revitalisation and common prosperity after China’s eradication of absolute poverty last year.

China is self-reliant in rice and wheat, its main staples, but depends heavily on imports for soybean, a major source of livestock feed.

Efforts to expand domestic soybean production to reduce dependence on external supply went into high gear last year. China is also trying to diversify its import sources.

The cultivation of corn, another source of animal feed, has been increased – even though China imports only a fraction of its annual consumption of the crop.

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“Judging from the data, we have no [security] problems with grains at the moment, but it is also a tight balance. We cannot afford fluctuations,” Hu Peisong, an agronomist at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and also director of the China Rice Research Institute, told digital daily The Paper.

Apart from factors like international geopolitics and climate change, the biggest threat to China’s food security is the decline in farmers’ incentive for agricultural production.

“Food prices are generally stable, but costs of agricultural materials such as potash [used in fertiliser] are rising, and there are risks like natural disasters. So the motivation to cultivate is declining,” Hu said on Saturday.

Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua, who oversees rural work, called for a boost to Covid-19 prevention measures in rural areas and medical care for vulnerable groups, as China battles its first large-scale pandemic wave.

Public health officials and experts have warned of the risks of rapid virus transmission in rural areas, which have weaker medical services than the big cities, especially with the Lunar New Year around the corner.

The extended holiday, called Spring Festival in China, bears witness to a massive human migration each year, when Chinese travel home to celebrate the new year with their families.