Zhao Xia: Combining domestic and international efforts to ensure food stability

2023-04-26

Only by firmly understanding the initiative of food security can we grasp the initiative of stable supply of food and important agricultural products. Recently, Professor Zhao Xia from the School of Economics and Management of China Agricultural University gave an interview to China Daily on this issue.

 

Zhao Xia pointed out that to ensure stable supply of food and important agricultural products, efforts must be made both domestically and internationally. At the same time, it is necessary to continuously improve national governance under the conditions of openness at the strategic level and properly manage various risks.

 

China Daily: As an agricultural power, China regards agriculture as the foundation for social stability and national governance. Ensuring the food security of the nation and improving food production are still the top priorities. Based on the domestic situation, how can we ensure a stable supply of food and important agricultural products?

 

Zhao: China adheres to solving the problem of food security based on the domestic situation, and we need to work on multiple aspects, such as pre-production, production, post-production, policy improvement, subject cultivation, and technological innovation, to continuously improve production capacity. First, we need to continue to promote the construction of high-standard farmland and water conservancy facilities in the pre-production stage. In the production stage, we need to vigorously develop agricultural socialized services and improve fine management in the field. In the post-production stage, we need to reduce loss and increase efficiency, accelerate circulation, processing, and brand building.

 

In addition, we need to build a supportive policy system that integrates pricing, subsidies, and insurance. At the same time, we need to continuously cultivate and strengthen the production and operation capacity of new types of business entities and support them to achieve benefits from the market and the industry.

 

Finally, we need to accelerate technological innovation, win the battle of seed industry revolution, develop smart agriculture, improve the innovation system of agricultural machinery and equipment, and consolidate the material basis for increasing production efficiency of food and important agricultural products.

 

China Daily: In recent years, China has been implementing a food security strategy with the principles of "self-reliance, domestic focus, ensuring production capacity, moderate imports, and technological support." How can we ensure the moderate import of food and important agricultural products?

 

Zhao: Starting from the international market, we need to optimize the diversified import layout of food and important agricultural products based on different types. First, for soybeans which heavily rely on the international market, we need to maintain stable economic and trade relations with major soybean-producing countries such as Brazil and Argentina in the short term. In the medium and long term, we need to expand the sources of soybean imports and plan ahead for countries with significant soybean planting potential such as Paraguay, Uruguay, and Bolivia in South America. Meanwhile, we should moderately expand the import of soybean substitutes such as soybean meal and mixed meal, indirectly promoting diversified soybean import layout.

 

Second, for sugar, cotton, and edible vegetable oil, which are mainly supplied domestically, we can adopt the following strategies. We need to strengthen the import layout of sugar by "one south and one north", and reinforce the cultivation of sugar in countries such as Myanmar and Laos, and stabilize the sugar trade relations with Thailand to the south. In the north, we need to expand and explore the potential for cooperation with Russia.

 

To ensure stable cotton supply, we need to continue to expand cotton imports from Central Asia in the medium term and consider long-term cooperation with "Four Cotton Countries " in Africa such as Benin, Mali, Chad, and Burkina Faso.

 

For edible vegetable oil, we should leverage the advantages of the "Belt and Road" and RCEP policies in the medium and long term, strengthen imports of palm oil from other major producing countries such as Nigeria and Ecuador, and increase imports of rapeseed oil from countries such as Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan.

 

In addition, for highly self-sufficient wheat, rice, and corn, we need to continue to expand the import of high-quality wheat from countries in the Black Sea region such as Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan in the medium and long term. We should also strengthen cooperation with Southeast Asian countries for rice imports and continue to improve the convenience of rice trade. For corn, we can increase the import share from Black Sea region countries such as Russia and moderately increase imports from South American countries such as Argentina and Paraguay.

 

China Daily: How can we respond to various risks and ensure the supply security of food and important agricultural products?

 

Zhao: To effectively control various risks, on one hand, we should strengthen the monitoring and early warning of the global food and important agricultural products supply chain and trade policy management. In particular, it is necessary to strengthen the monitoring and early warning of information on the production, storage, circulation, trade, consumption, prices, and other aspects of food and important agricultural products in key countries and regions, and timely develop scientific response plans.

 

On the other hand, we need to continue to promote the "going global" strategy of large agricultural enterprises. Establishing the entire industry chain globally and optimizing the allocation of global food and important agricultural products.

 

In addition, our country should actively cultivate a globalized agricultural product trading market and gradually become the pricing center for important agricultural products. At the same time, we should take on the responsibility of a major country, actively participate in global and regional food and important agricultural product security governance, and jointly maintain the global supply security and stability of food and important agricultural products.