Provincial governors and party secretaries are told they must ‘shoulder the responsibility of food security’, as pressure from Washington and implications of the Ukraine war are straining China’s food supply.
China plans to grow nearly 90 per cent of the grain it needs by 2032, while also reducing imports, with food security high on the agenda for Beijing amid rising geopolitical tensions and the Ukraine war.
The record grain yield comes despite delayed plantings, heatwaves and prolonged zero-Covid disruptions, as China’s policymakers keep food security atop their priorities.
Zhang Wufeng, the former director of the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration, is by far the highest-ranking bureaucrat to be targeted in a nationwide corruption crackdown on China’s grain sector.
China scooped up 200,000 metric tonnes of corn last week for shipment in the season beginning September 1, according to the US Department of Agriculture.