China's top officials worry about dependence on food imports

Introduction: Beijing Derun forest, Aug 23: China has become a net importer of agricultural products, the Financial Times reported on Monday, raising concerns about the food supply security of its 1.3 billion people Due to the lack of land and water resources, the prospect of increasing grain production in China is not optimistic According to officials and researchers, since 2003 and this year, there have been signs that China's food production has declined, while long-term demand is on the rise, so the top leadership has called for research on food security China's dependence on Western food imports has increased, just as the issue of agricultural trade in Doha global trade conference has become a hot topic and the most controversial one Our leadership is very concerned about food security, because in the 1950s and 1960s of the last century, the current leaders are also in the youth era According to a researcher who advises the government on food security, for these leaders, relying on foreign markets is not only a strategic issue, but also a problem related to food self-sufficiency The latest official data shows that in the first half of this year, China's agricultural products had an unprecedented deficit From January to June 2004, the import value of China's agricultural products reached US $14.35 billion, an increase of 62.5% over the same period last year, and the total export value was US $10.62 billion, an increase of 11% over the same period last year The export of agricultural products from the United States to China reached 4.96 billion US dollars, an increase of 68.1% over the same period in 2003 The biggest change in agricultural trade is the sharp increase in food imports, which is due to the continuous reduction of food production and the reduction of strategic food reserves since 1998 In the first half of this year, China imported 4.1 million tons of grain, 1.8 times that of the same period last year China's grain reserves have always been regarded as state secrets, but several researchers said that although the grain harvest this year is expected to be slightly higher than last year's level, but the strong demand for grain means that this year's grain reserves are still under pressure to reduce, and there is still a chance of reducing grain stocks in 2005 Chen Xiwen, deputy director of the development research center of the State Council, recently said that the gap between grain production and demand this year is about 37.5 million tons A senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that China's farmland production capacity had been reduced due to lower water levels, dried up rivers and polluted water resources, so it was unlikely that grain production would increase significantly China's population has increased by 10 million to 20 million per year, and the large-scale growth of industrial parks, as well as the construction of infrastructure such as roads and railway networks, have reduced the cultivated land area by 6.7 million hectares since 1996, compared with 123.4 million hectares last year.