Understanding China’s Crops

Li Wenming

People’s Daily Press

January 2022

49.00 (CNY)

This book proposes a “trilogy” theory of food security， starting with food in the past and present. It elaborates on the roots of production， the direction of marketization， the world’s breadbasket， and the overall internal and external strategies. It then provides an outlook on the general pattern and prospects of China’s future food demand and further discusses the policy direction toward a strong food nation in the new development stage.

Li Wenming

He graduated from the College of Economics and Management at China Agricultural University with a master’s degree in economics and a doctorate in management. He formerly worked at Qingdao Agricultural University， China Food Research and Training Center， the Counsellors’ Office of the State Council， the Office of the Central Finance and Economics Commission， and the Office of the Central Leading Group for Rural Work. He now works for a Central financial enterprise.

The CPC Central Committee has established a new national food safety strategy to adapt to the new situation and new requirements， which consists of the following: “to be focused on our nation， to be domestically-based， to guarantee production capacity， to import moderately， and to be supported by science and technology.” Being devised from a practical point of view with a long-term perspective， it is thoroughly and systematically reviewed in an international and domestic context， with far-reaching policy implications and strategic significance. This strategy requires us to never deviate from the strategic initiative and fundamental premise of “focusing on our nation”; never to relinquish the strategic support and basic “foundation” of “being domestic-based”; to firmly consolidate the production foundation of “ensuring production capacity”; to steadfastly rely on innovation to establish the strategic anchor of “scientific support”， and to strictly adhere to the new food safety concept of “achieving basic self-sufficiency in grain， and security" of staple food supply.”

Under this framework， “to import moderately” is a supplement to and in conformity with the other four strategies. We cannot exclude agricultural trade from the policy options to address food safety issues. Instead， we should firmly expand and open up to the outside world and give full play to the positive role of imports in national food safety. This is also the fundamental viewpoint and positive response to the “opening question” at the macro level. To this end， we must systematically grasp the internal logic of these five statements， and deal with the relationship between import trade， domestic industries， and farmers’ interests， to firmly protect what is worthy of protection， to allow orderly entry of what is worthy of access， to achieve a combination of short and long term goals， to strive for the benefit and avoid harm， so that we can use everything to our advantage. It is crucial to balance imports and domestic production， inventory， and consumption. The focus is to implement a diversified import strategy “without keeping all the eggs in a single basket”. Efforts should be made to strengthen the international industrial chain and stabilize the strategic layout of the supply chain， strengthen market monitoring， forewarning and import risk control， and take the initiative to disperse accumulated risks so that we may be prepared in advance for any potential threats. We must take a firm grasp on the initiative of food security by substituting scarce varieties， expanding source channels， strengthening the resilience of the supply chain， and enhancing two-way regulation of supply and demand and emergency security capabilities.

As a large developing country with a population of more than 1.4 billion， China has made historic achievements in food safety that have attracted worldwide attention. With the continuous improvement of income levels， the food consumption structure continues to upgrade. People have changed from “being fed” to “eating well” and “eating healthy”， and the consumer demand for high-quality agricultural products is also increasing. Therefore， it is becoming more challenging to meet the growing demand for agricultural products arising from the food consumption and economic and social development of the population if we confine ourselves to domestic arable land and freshwater resources. In the context of globalization， from China’s factor endowment characterized by abundant population， scarce land， and water shortage， we should make fuller use of international and domestic markets and resources. We should constantly expand the opening of our agriculture to the outside world and take the initiative to expand agricultural trade with other countries in the world. This is an essential element in building a new pattern of opening up foreign agrarian trade in the new era， which is also an inevitable requirement for achieving high-quality agricultural development and a realistic choice to meet the people’s growing needs for a better life.