The pandemic, geopolitical tensions and heavy rainfall last year threaten China’s grain supply. So it has stockpiled food—or, as critics say, hoarded it
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskPast leaders have at times struggled with this task. Tens of millions of Chinese perished in the famine caused by Mao Zedong’s ruinous policies in the late 1950s. Such a catastrophe is inconceivable today. But rows with Australia and Canada have made Chinese officials worry that the copious amounts of grain the two countries supply might one day be cut off.
Global food prices were rising even before the war started to affect the supply of grains and fertiliser ingredients. The conflict scares China for another reason, too. The harsh sanctions imposed on Russia by Western countries make China nervous that it would face similar punishment were it to invade Taiwan.
The regime has dealt with these concerns in two important ways. It has stockpiled food—or, as critics say, hoarded it. Over the past five years China’s purchases of everything from soyabeans to pork have soared. America’s Department of Agriculture predicts that by the middle of this year China will hold 69% of the world’s maize reserves, 60% of its rice and 51% of its wheat. All this to feed 18% of the world’s population.
In the longer term China may hope to diversify its suppliers. This will be difficult, says Zhang Hongzhou of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. So it is also trying to become self-sufficient. One benchmark calls for Chinese producers to meet 95% of the country’s demand for basic grains. On rice they pass. On sorghum and barley they fail. On maize and wheat they come close. Genetically modified crops would help.
“Even if China decides it wants to be self-sufficient, it is now pretty much impossible,” says Dr Zhang. That may not stop it from trying, though. Mr Xi, a fervent nationalist, wants more of what China consumes to be made at home. Or, as he put it last year: “The rice bowl must mainly contain Chinese grain.
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