Xinhua News Flash | Safeguarding Our Food Security! World Food Day on the “Bowl of Rice”

BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) — Title: Safeguarding Our Food Security! World Food Day on the “Bowl of Rice”

  Xinhua News Agency reporters Gu Yiping and Hu Liran

  With food in hand, one feels no anxiety!

  On October 16, we mark the 45th World Food Day. This year’s theme is “Hand in Hand, Promoting Diverse Cuisine and Joining Forces to Build a Brighter Future.”

  With over 1.4 billion people to feed, ensuring food security is China’s most fundamental national condition. General Secretary Xi Jinping has consistently placed food security at the forefront of his concerns, emphasizing that “safeguarding national food security must be given top priority.”

  The latest agricultural situation report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs indicates that more than 60 percent of the autumn grain harvest has been completed nationwide.

  At present, China’s per capita grain availability has reached 500 kilograms, surpassing the internationally recognized food‑security threshold of 400 kilograms per person, ensuring basic self-sufficiency in cereals and absolute food security for staple grains. With its food supply firmly secured, China stands resolute and confident.

  Diligent cultivation ensures grain yields; conserving grain and reducing losses cultivates the “invisible farmland.” From production and storage to processing and consumption, efforts to safeguard national food security span the entire grain‑circulation chain.

  Unwaveringly ensuring a bumper harvest—

  China’s grain output has remained above 1.3 trillion jin for many consecutive years, and last year it even surpassed the 1.4-trillion-jin mark for the first time. However, sustained bumper harvests do not justify complacency; adverse factors such as natural disasters continue to pose risks to grain production.

  On October 14, 2025, in Gongzhuling City, Jilin Province, the Jilin Midou Planting Farmers’ Professional Cooperative conducted a demonstration of mechanized rice harvesting (drone photo). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Nan.

  Recently, the Huanghuai region—particularly Henan and Shandong—has experienced prolonged periods of overcast and rainy weather. In some areas, waterlogging has hampered field operations, making it difficult for agricultural machinery to access fields, thereby delaying autumn harvest progress.

  Time waits for no one in the farming season! In Henan, combine harvesters are being upgraded to enhance their ability to operate in overly wet fields, ensuring steady progress in the autumn harvest. Meanwhile, Shandong has mapped out a province-wide service network for mechanized “three-autumn” operations, dynamically updating and publicly sharing information on grain-drying facilities. Across the country, coordinated efforts and a range of measures are being implemented to ensure the smooth completion of the autumn grain harvest—the largest component of the year’s total grain production.

  The granaries of major countries are greener and fresher—

  Being prepared for the unexpected is a fundamental principle of statecraft. China’s solid and reliable national grain reserve system strengthens our ability to ensure food security.

  Grain is sensitive to heat and easily spoils at high temperatures. At the Shenqiu Direct‑Affiliated Grain Depot of the Central Reserve in Zhoukou, Henan, staff employ an internal‑circulation temperature‑control system to preserve grain quality: in winter, they harness cold air from northern regions to ventilate and store coolness, building a reservoir of cold within the grain pile; in summer, they circulate this cold source to maintain the grain at near‑low‑temperature conditions, thereby slowing down quality degradation.

  During grain harvesting and transportation, pests can easily contaminate the grain and bore into it. In Fuyang, Anhui, the Fuyang Direct‑Affiliated Warehouse of the Central Reserve Grain Administration employs carbon dioxide–controlled atmosphere storage technology: carbon dioxide is injected into the granaries, creating a “bubble‑like” environment around the grain that establishes a low‑oxygen setting, thereby inhibiting microbial growth and controlling pest infestations, thus achieving green, long‑term grain preservation…

  On October 14, at the Grain Trading Center of Heilongjiang Gongqing Farm Co., Ltd. under the Beidahuang Group, a forklift was conducting grain cleaning and sorting in preparation for drying (drone photo). Xinhua News Agency (photo by Li Ang).

  Across the country, an increasing number of green grain-storage technologies are being tailored to local conditions, reducing losses in stored grain quantities while enhancing grain quality, ensuring that people’s bowls are filled with fresher, higher‑quality Chinese grain.

  Reducing “waste on the tip of the tongue” is gradually becoming a “new dining trend”—

  The week in which World Food Day falls also marks China’s National Food Security Public Awareness Week. This year’s theme is “Food Conservation: A Responsibility Shared by All.”

  Cherishing every grain in our bowl and reducing food waste is both a tribute to the hard work of hundreds of millions of farmers and the most direct way we safeguard China’s food security.

  At dinner time in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, the time-honored restaurant “Zhiweiguan” was bustling with customers. The reporter observed that, before taking orders, servers would advise patrons on appropriate portion sizes to help prevent overordering and food waste. Reminders encouraging diners to finish their meals were posted at the ordering counter, on table cards, and on paper menus.

  On October 15, 2025, at a branch of the time-honored Hangzhou restaurant “Zhiweiguan” in Zhejiang, a reminder sign promoting “practicing thrift and opposing waste” was posted in a prominent location. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Huang Zongzhi.

  At 9:30 p.m., inside a branded chain bakery at the 1903 Commercial Plaza in Xishan District, Kunming, Yunnan, an employee was wrapping leftover cakes and desserts in plastic wrap and packing them into sealed containers. “Any bread or cake that doesn’t sell out by the end of the day is carefully packaged and sent to our factory, where it undergoes professional processing to be turned into chicken feed—making sure nothing goes to waste,” the employee explained.

  At present, the “Clean Plate Campaign” is gaining widespread acceptance across the country, and food‑saving has become a “new dining trend” that more and more people are embracing.

  The “rice bowl” can “hold” the land, sea, air, and space—

  We draw food not only from the land but also from the sea… “Eating” is far more than simply consuming grain; meat, eggs, dairy, fruits, vegetables, fish, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and other delicacies all contribute to a rich and varied diet. By building a diversified food supply system, we can help people make the transition from “having enough to eat” to “eating well.”

  Implementing the “Grand Food View” and continuously expanding the boundaries of food supply. By the end of 2024, China’s total output of livestock products—including meat, eggs, and dairy—had reached 175 million tons, up 18.8% from 2020; total aquatic product output had climbed to 73.58 million tons, a 12.3% increase over 2020; and annual edible mushroom production exceeded 40 million tons…

  On World Food Day, let us safeguard bountiful harvests, celebrate the value of food, cherish grain, and work together to protect our “food” heritage!

  Planning: Chen Fang

  Reporters: Gu Yiping, Hu Liran

  Coordination: Wang Min, Zhang Xinxin, Yin Yiru

  Produced by the Domestic Department of Xinhua News Agency

[Editor-in-charge: Zhao Wenhan]

Source: Xinhua Net