Steady grain production feeds the nation, secures the world: China's answers to food security and global implications

Editor's note: Li Chunding is a professor at the College of Economics & Management, China Agricultural University; Chen Wenyuan is a doctoral candidate at the College of Economics & Management, China Agricultural University. The article reflects the authors' opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN. 

"When the granaries are full, the world is at peace". Ensuring national food security is directly related to the healthy development of the economy as well as social harmony and stability. It is an important material basis and industrial pillar for sustainable economic and social development. 

As the world's largest food producer and consumer, China's per capita grain availability has reached 500 kg, which is much higher than the internationally recognized food safety line. This achievement is a testament to the country's continuous investment and policy support for agricultural development, and it is also the crystallization of the hard work of the working people. The two have consolidated the foundation of national food security. 

According to the data of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, in the first half of 2025, the total output of summer grain in China reached 299.48 billion jin (149.74 billion kg), a decrease of 0.1 percent compared with 2024. However, against the backdrop of frequent global extreme climate and unstable geographical situation, China has been able to ensure the basic stability of grain production, showing the strong resilience and anti-risk ability of its agriculture.

Improving import and export structure: Diversified layout to cope with global trade changes

The frequent occurrence of geopolitical conflicts, anti-globalization and extreme climate change have not only severely damaged the food production and export activities of major food suppliers, but have also seriously impacted the international food supply and transportation security system, resulting in a tight balance of international food supply and fully exposing the vulnerability of the global food supply chain. In this context, the import and export structure of China's agricultural products has changed significantly. 

Data shows that from January to July 2025, the import and export volume of China's agricultural products was $174.89 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 5.0 percent, of which exports increased by 1.8 percent, imports decreased by 8.0 percent, and the trade deficit narrowed by 15.8 percent. Within this, grain imports were 14.204 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 63.0 percent, indicating that the domestic grain supply security capacity has been enhanced. Taking soybeans as an example, customs data shows that 42.26 million tons of soybeans were imported from Brazil from January to July, an increase of 25 percent year on year and a new high in the same period. However, only 16.57 million tons were imported from the United States, which was 51 percent lower than the same period last year. As the world's largest soybean importer, China's diversified transformation in the field of soybean imports is not only a measure to counter US trade protectionism, but also a positive choice to enhance supply chain resilience.

Scientific and technological innovation accelerates popularization and application of agricultural achievements

Relying on scientific and technological innovation, strengthening the support to modern agriculture, and vigorously developing new agricultural productivity have become the "key variables" for China's grain production. By the end of 2024, the contribution rate of agricultural science and technology progress in China had reached 63.2 percent, and the coverage rate of improved varieties of crops had exceeded 96 percent. 

This series of data marks the transformation of China's grain production from factor-driven to innovation-driven, from "sweat agriculture" to "smart agriculture", and the use of "Chinese seeds" to produce "Chinese grain". The strategic deployment with the core of "storing grain in land and storing grain in technology" has provided a key path for consolidating the foundation of China's food security. The autonomy rate of rice and wheat varieties in China has reached 100 percent, and the improved varieties of grain crops have basically achieved full coverage. To some extent, mastering the 'seed chip' and achieving autonomy has ensured the stability of the "Chinese rice bowl" in the event of external supply disruptions.

Global vision: China's focus on supply chain remodeling

As of 2025, global food trade is shifting from globalization to fragmentation. The International Grains Council (IGC) predicts that global grain production will reach a record 2.412 billion tons in the 2025/26 marketing year, up 3 percent from the previous year. However, behind this growth lies a profound change in the trade pattern. 

In the face of the complex and ever-changing international environment, on the one hand, the Chinese government has ensured the regulation ability of major grain varieties through means such as tariff quota management. For example, the National Development and Reform Commission has set the total import tariff quotas for wheat, corn and rice in the application and arrangement rules for grain import tariff quotas in 2026 to be 9.636 million tons, 7.2 million tons and 5.32 million tons, respectively. On the other hand, China is actively building a diversified food supply system, improving the agricultural industry chain and enhancing the resilience of the food supply chain on the premise of ensuring "safe self-sufficiency of grain and absolute security of staple food". 

The road to the future: Food security under tight balance

Although China's grain output has increased for many years, in general, the country's grain supply and demand are still in a tight balance. Structural contradictions are prominent, and the total grain consumption is rigidly rising. In the future, China will continue to push forward a new round of "100 billion kilograms of grain production capacity improvement action", keep on to implement the seed industry revitalization action, establish and improve the inter-provincial horizontal interest compensation mechanism in grain production and marketing areas, and ensure farmers' grain income through price support, insurance subsidies and other policies. At the same time, China should continue to work together with all countries in the world to build consensus and gather strength, consolidate the foundation of food security, and achieve sustainable agricultural development.