November 30, 2012

China to depend on overseas grain imports

China may depend more on grain imports from overseas as local output falls behind rising demand.

Chen Xiwen, director of the Chinese Communist Party's top policy making body for rural affairs, said the country would need an additional 40 million hectares of sowing areas, 25% of its current total, in order to replace current import volumes with domestic production.

The migration of as many as 230 million farm workers to the cities since the turn of this century has eroded the country's self-sufficiency in grains, Chen told a forum in Beijing.

China's dependence on foreign markets is likely to increase as the population grows and the economy develops, he said, with greater rates of urbanisation and higher living standards also boosting consumption of edible oils, meat, poultry and eggs.

China's grain imports reached 60.88 million tonnes in the first ten months of the year, including 48.55 million tonnes of soy, and imports for the whole year will exceed 55 million tonnes, half of the world's traded volume, Chen said.

Last year, China became a net importer of wheat, corn and rice at the same time.

Chen said China's current land system has failed to protect precious farmland for agriculture production, allowing non-agricultural sectors to take over.

At this month's Communist Party congress, Agriculture Minister Han Changfu said China's food security was under greater threat as a result of land, water and labour shortages.

Chinese leaders have vowed to tighten the laws on farmland grabs, warning that the problem could fuel rural unrest and undermine the country's food security.