China Review News (CRN) recently published an article discussing the growing risk of managing the availability of food. China’s food self-sufficiency rate has been on a continuous decline. Chinese Customs has provided statistics which show that, in 2012, China’s food imports increased by 25 percent over the year 2011. Imported food now constitutes almost 14 percent of all of China’s food supply. In 2012, China’s food importing demands accounted for 20 percent of the global food exporting market. This means any fluctuation in the international food market will have a major impact on China’s food supply. China is currently the second largest food buyer in the world (after Japan). The article suggested that China must have a significant policy focus as well as implementation on domestic agricultural development. In the meantime, China should invest internationally to secure food supply sources on a nation-to-nation level. Lastly, the author called for serious action to be taken on activities that waste food, such as having no control over public funds spent on meals.
Source: China Review News, February 8, 2013
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