China says no need to stockpile grain over coronavirus fear

China Saturday called on citizens not to stockpile grains in light of the coronavirus fear because the country has sufficient supply for people's daily, Wei Baigang, an official with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, told a press conference.

According to Wei, China's grain output has steadily increased for five consecutive years and it reaped record bumper harvest in 2019 with 663.84 million tonnes, up by 5.94 million tonnes or 0.9 percent from 2018.

"At present, our country's food stock is sufficient, and stocks-to-use ratio is far higher than the 17- 18 percent level proposed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)," Wei said.

He also noted the per capita food output in China has been above the world average since 2010. In 2019, the number stood at around 470 kg.

In response to question regarding the impact of some countries including Vietnam and Kazakhstan putting restriction on grain export, Wei said China won't be affected since China only has a very small portion of grain import, and for last year, it only accounted for nearly 2% of China's total grain consumption.

"The main purpose [of importing grain] is to adjust the demand structure and better meet people's personalized and diversified consumption needs."