The New Food Security Strategy of "China feeds China"

Brown's theory of China's "grabbing grain" once again reminds us that China, as the most populous country in the world, the world cannot support China, and the strings of food security should always be firmly tightened. We should start from the two aspects of increasing the domestic grain production capacity and ensuring the grain import capacity of the international market, resolutely adhere to the bottom line of food security, firmly hold the rice bowls of the Chinese people in our own hands, and never take it lightly.

"supporting oneself" has always been a major strategic issue for China's economic development, social stability and national self-reliance. In the 1990s, Brown asked "who will feed China" and questioned China's food security. The scientific argumentation of Chinese and foreign scholars and the facts of China's grain development have proved that China is not only fully capable of "feeding itself", but also can make great contributions to world food security. The Chinese people's rice bowls must be firmly in their own hands, and China is also capable of holding their own rice bowls, and there is no need to "grab grain" in the international arena, let alone pose a threat to world food security, and can also help the people of the world solve the problem of food.

Chinese and foreign scholars discuss "who will feed China"

In 1994, Lester Brown, director of the US World Observatory, believed that in the process of industrialization, with the increase of population and the change of consumption structure, China's food demand would increase significantly in the future. due to the problems such as "reduction of arable land", "shortage of water resources" and "destruction of the environment", China's grain output will decline in the future, and China will face a huge grain gap. For this reason, China will become more and more dependent on grain imports and impact world food supplies and prices. Even if China has sufficient foreign exchange reserves, the international market will not be able to provide such a huge food supply to 1.3 billion Chinese people. Brown concluded that not only can China not feed itself, but also the world cannot feed China, and China's food shortage will "short" the world food market, causing food shortages and rising prices around the world. triggered a global political and ecological crisis. He warned the world: "the shortage of food is accompanied by economic instability, which poses a far greater threat to security than military invasion." Brown's views have become part of the "China threat theory". In an interview in Beijing in 2008, Brown stressed that "who will feed China" is still a question, and his view has not changed. He further proposed that when China's population will reach 1.6 billion in the 1930s, who will feed China and who will save the resulting global food shortage and turmoil crisis? Subsequently, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the Wall Street Journal commented that "China's food problem will endanger the food security of the people of the world,"China's food shortage will be more terrible than military invasion," and "China is the greatest threat to the world."

Brown's misgivings have aroused doubts among Chinese and foreign scholars. Lin Yifu pointed out in the article "the Chinese people have the ability to support themselves" that the Chinese Government has always paid attention to the food problem, and that "instability without food" is the basis of China's political wisdom. With the improvement of economic and social development and the camera adjustment of grain policy, China was, is, and will be able to produce enough food to support itself. In 1996, the Information Office of the State Council of China published "China's Food problem", pointing out that New China has solved the problem of food for the people, and that China can rely on its own strength to achieve basic self-sufficiency in grain. By increasing the comprehensive production capacity of grain, promoting the revitalization of agriculture through science and education, changing the mode of grain growth, deepening system reform, and improving the circulation policy environment, China can achieve sustainable agricultural development. The Chinese are fully capable of supporting themselves. Can China really starve the world by Frederick Krook of the Bureau of Economic Research of the United States Department of Agriculture? The article holds that Brown's forecast ignores the role of self-correction mechanism in the market economy. Chinese producers and consumers can make a clear response to changes in grain prices, and policy makers can also effectively respond to the changing domestic and foreign economic environment. China's grain output will not decline, but there is still considerable room for growth in the future, and Chinese farmers in the 21st century will be able to feed the Chinese people.

The realistic response to "China feeds China"

Facts speak louder than words. Whether Brown's predictions are correct or not needs to be tested by the facts of China's grain development. The best way to refute Brown's views is to speak with facts. In the mid-1990s, the cognition of Japanese scholar Changbai Shi and Liang's article "China feeds China" has become an objective reality. Twenty years later, not only did the Chinese people not rely on their strong purchasing power to sweep away the supply of the world grain market, but also China's total grain output and per capita grain output have increased significantly. While the Chinese people are feeding themselves, they are also feeding the world. This is mainly manifested in: first, the basic balance between China's grain supply and demand has been achieved, and the self-sufficiency rate of major grain has been maintained at more than 95%. Second, China has become a food aid country of the international community. Since 2006, China no longer accepts free food aid provided by the World Food Program, and China has become an important food aid country from a food recipient. Third, China's food security index is in a state of "good performance". During the more than 30 years of reform and opening up, with little dependence on imports, domestic grain production has met the food needs and diversified dietary structure of the Chinese people.

Recently, Brown once again stirred up the topic of "can the world feed China", claiming that China's grain imports have increased sharply, that the structural grain gap continues to widen, and that China has accelerated its "grain grabbing" in the international arena, and has hyped the theory of "China's grain threat." the question of whether China can feed itself is once again in uproar in the world. In view of this hype, we need a rational analysis of seeking truth from facts. The import of agricultural products in China has increased in recent years, mainly based on the following conditions. First, international grain prices are lower than domestic grain prices, and economic laws play a role and trigger import impulses, which is by no means the result of domestic food shortages. The second is to import an appropriate amount of high-end and high-quality varieties to meet the diversified domestic consumption demand and adjust the domestic surplus and shortage, which is a realistic choice for the trend of internationalization of agricultural trade. Third, the relatively large amount of imports are mainly soybeans, which are not counted as grain in international statistics. If grain imports alone, it was more than 14 million tons in 2013, accounting for less than 2.6 percent of domestic grain output and about 4 percent of the international market share. It can be seen that there is no situation of China "grabbing grain" in the international arena, and it is impossible to talk about the "China grain threat theory."

A New Strategy of Food Security-- A New Strategy of "China feeding China"

Brown's theory of China's "grabbing grain" once again reminds us that China, as the most populous country in the world, the world cannot support China, and the strings of food security should always be firmly tightened. We should start from the two aspects of increasing the domestic grain production capacity and ensuring the grain import capacity of the international market, resolutely adhere to the bottom line of food security, firmly hold the rice bowls of the Chinese people in our own hands, and never take it lightly. On the one hand, the comprehensive domestic grain production capacity must be continuously enhanced. The first is to "preserve land." the amount of cultivated land is a prerequisite for realizing food security. We will unswervingly adhere to the red line of 1.8 billion mu of cultivated land and the bottom line of 1.6 billion mu of grain sown area and 1.4 billion mu of grain sown area, so as to ensure both the quantity and quality of cultivated land. Second, adhere to the principle of "rich" farmers, without the interests of food and agriculture, there will be no food security. By improving the policy of strengthening agriculture and benefiting farmers and rich farmers, and implementing the policy of "four subsidies", the focus of the new agricultural subsidies will be tilted to new business entities such as large grain growers, family farms and farmers' cooperatives, so that those who produce more food will receive more subsidies. We will improve the interest compensation mechanism for major grain producing areas, effectively protect and mobilize the enthusiasm of local governments in grasping grain and farmers growing grain, cultivate new types of agricultural operators, develop appropriate scale operation, and improve the level and efficiency of grain cultivation. The third is to increase investment in agricultural infrastructure, speed up the implementation of the National General Plan for the Construction of High-standard farmland, and improve the sustainable development capacity of grain production through the implementation of fertile soil projects, organic matter upgrading projects, agricultural environmental control projects, and so on. Fourth, greatly promote agricultural science and technology, promote the progress of agricultural science and technology, and play a supporting role in science and technology. In 2013, the contribution rate of agricultural scientific and technological progress reached 55.2%, which will be further increased in the future. It is necessary to deepen the reform of the seed industry system, speed up the cultivation of a number of breakthrough varieties with great application prospects and independent intellectual property rights, speed up the whole process of mechanization of grain production by promoting the combination of agricultural machinery and agronomy, and by promoting technological integration and innovation, we will carry out high-yield creation and grain production models on a large scale, and promote key technologies to be put into place.

On the other hand, we should broaden our horizons, base ourselves on global resource endowments, give full play to our comparative advantages, import grain moderately, improve our ability to control food sources in the international market, and ensure China's food security. First, to be "cautious", we must carefully grasp the scale, rhythm, mode, and layout of grain imports, give the international market the expectation of stability, and release import demand in a slow and balanced manner, so that the international market has a reaction process and time to increase production capacity. The second is "diversity", paying attention to the diversification of import varieties, markets, regions and countries, and the diversification of import methods, so as to reduce the negative impact of fluctuations in the international grain market.

As a responsible big country, with a foothold at home and facing the world, the idea that Chinese people's rice bowls must be firmly in their own hands remains unchanged, and China is also capable of holding their own rice bowls. China can not only feed China, there is no need to "grab grain" in the international arena, let alone pose a threat to world food security, but also help solve the problem of feeding the people of the world.