March 19, 2008

China's corrupt officials may have inflated size of grain reserves

Corrupt Chinese officials may be fabricating reports of bulging granaries to get hold of subsidies, meaning Beijing has an inflated idea about the size of its grain reserves, state media said Wednesday (March 19, 2008).

Yuan Longping, a top rice scientist and a member of a body that advises the Chinese government, said some local grain reserves are actually empty, the Beijing Times said.

He said officials in charge of local granaries might report fabricated figures for stock levels in order to get government subsidies meant to help maintain grain reserves, according to reports.

The State Administration of Grain has vowed to immediately send investigation teams to places Yuan mentioned and launch more random checks in the future, the Beijing paper said.

Grain reserves are an issue of growing concern in China given the recent resurgence of inflation.

Chinese inflation, led by sharp rises in food prices, hit a near 12-year high of 8.7 percent in February, stoking fears of short supply and social unrest.

Taming inflation has become one of the Chinese government's top priorities this year, with Premier Wen Jiabao calling on Tuesday for effective measures to address the problem.

Speaking to local and foreign reporters, Wen said China's current grain reserves are between 150 million tonnes and 200 million tonnes, adding "we are confident in curbing overly fast price rises".