China's grain import growth experts say "large food gap"

According to the latest statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture's agricultural products import and export, China's total agricultural product imports in the first half of this year totaled 33.26 billion U.S. dollars, up 38.9% year-on-year, of which imports of rice were 174,000 tons, up 44.3% year-on-year.

The reporter compared the import data of agricultural products in 2009 and found that in the year of 2009, the import of cereals was 3.315 million tons. In the first half of this year, China’s grain imports reached 2.484 million tons. In the first half of this year, the import of cereals increased by 60.7% year-on-year, and the grain net imports 1.82 million tons. The year-on-year increase of 1.2 times.

Among them, rice imports amounted to 174,000 tons, an increase of 44.3% over the previous year; corn imports reached 88,000 tons, an increase of 26.3 times year-on-year; wheat imports reached 845,000 tons, an increase of 1.1 times year-on-year; and imports of 1.269 million tons of barley, an increase of 31.2% year-on-year.

The reporter checked the data and found that in 2008 and 2009 China's rice and corn exports continued to decline; while rice and corn imports showed an upward trend.

However, the figures for the first half of this year show the elasticity of China's imports and exports. In the first half of this year, rice exported 342,000 tons, 16.8 tons more than the 17.4 tons imported, and corn exports 80,000 tons, an increase of 34.7% year-on-year.

Grain imports continue to grow. Does China have a food gap? A senior professor at South China Agricultural University said: “This year our country’s summer grain production is lower than last year, and early rice has been reduced due to disasters. Therefore, the increase in grain imports is normal in the first half of this year. But now It is the period of growth and development of autumn grain in our country, and now the Ministry of Agriculture has also issued a document entitled “Further Well-Managed Production of Late Rice and Autumn Grains”. Now it is good to see the autumn grain production situation. Grasping the production of autumn grain to ensure a good food harvest and ensuring market supply should not be a problem. Now that China's huge food gap is one-sided and incorrect."

He believes that whether the import and export deficit or surplus condition is the normal state of imports and exports and is influenced by many reasons. The momentary state cannot represent the overall situation.