Focus on Arts and Ecology

 The big environmental stories in the Chinese media this week (7-13 August)

The news that the Chinese state has procured less wheat than last year unsettled many, especially as it came two days after President Xi Jinping had launched a campaign calling for an end to “shocking and distressing” food waste in the country. 

The National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration (NFSRA) announced on Wednesday that as of 5 August the state had procured 42.9 million tonnes in the country's major wheat-producing areas – 18% less than the same period last year. However, referring to data published by the National Bureau of Statistics in mid-July, Caixin noted that the total summer output of wheat in the country as a whole is 131.7 million tonnes – 756,000 tonnes more than in 2019.

Experts speaking to Caixin explained that the reduction in state procurement could have been a result of producers withholding wheat in anticipation of higher market prices due to Covid-19, extreme weather, disease and pest outbreaks.
 
China has a minimum-price procurement system for grains, to ensure both producers’ income and state reserves. Producers are free to sell their grains to non-state buyers if the price is higher. This summer’s seasonal procurement by the government, involving wheat and rice, is still going on and will last until September. The NFSRA also announced that it has so far procured 2.6 million tonnes of rice, 126,000 tonnes more than in 2019.
 
In a Xinhua report on the president’s “clean plate campaign”, Xi was quoted as saying: “Despite growing harvests over the years, it's necessary to stay alert about food security. The fallout of this year’s Covid-19 outbreak has sounded the alarm bell for us.”

In response to the call, the Law Committee of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee announced it was already looking into legislating against food waste; videocast platforms threatened to ban accounts displaying lavish eating, a popular theme otherwise; and local governments hurried to promote food-saving schemes at restaurants.
 
Though “food” includes much beyond grains, in Chinese official parlance they confusingly share the same word “粮食”. China is self-sufficient in its staple crops such as rice and wheat, but highly dependent on imports for meat, dairy, oil crops and feed. Uncertainties on various fronts, political, epidemiological, ecological and climatic, have added risks to China’s food system.

An article published on Wednesday by the Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Central Committee of the CPC describes the supply of food crops in China as a “tight equilibrium”, meaning self-sufficient but without much surplus.

For more on the history and future of China’s food security see our analysis from the beginning of this year.