Xinhua Net Commentary: Prioritizing “stability” to ensure China’s food security.

Release Date:

2022-12-29

“Food is the paramount necessity of the people, and agriculture is the foundation of the nation.” The recently held Central Rural Work Conference underscored that ensuring a stable and secure supply of grain and other essential agricultural products remains the top priority in building a strong agricultural country. Behind this “stability” lies an immense and unwavering force.

According to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s total grain output in 2022 reached 1.3731 trillion jin, an increase of 7.4 billion jin over the previous year. Grain production has remained stable above 1.3 trillion jin for eight consecutive years. Every grain and every harvest is the result of farmers’ hard work and dedication. Despite challenges such as drought, autumn floods, and the COVID‑19 pandemic, this year’s grain production successfully overcame multiple hurdles, making this bumper harvest all the more hard‑won.

Stable output stems from stable policies and robust production capacity. China has firmly upheld the red line of 1.8 billion mu of arable land, and by the end of 2022 had cumulatively developed 1 billion mu of high-standard farmland that ensures reliable yields regardless of drought or flood. Over 95 percent of crop acreage is planted with domestically bred varieties, ensuring that China’s food supply relies primarily on Chinese seeds. The comprehensive mechanization rate for crop cultivation, planting, and harvesting has risen from 57.2 percent in 2012 to 72 percent in 2021, while the contribution of agricultural scientific and technological progress has increased from 54.5 percent to over 61 percent. These steady yet progressive developments, characterized by rapid yet prudent progress, have laid a solid foundation for safeguarding food security.

Year after year of bumper harvests has kept China’s granary secure, providing strong support for the steady functioning of the economy and society, while also bolstering our confidence and resolve in facing various risks and challenges. Even with consecutive bountiful yields, we must never afford to be complacent when it comes to ensuring food security and safeguarding our national food supply. Looking ahead, we should continue to put “stability” first—using stability as a foundation for progress and consolidating stability through advancement—so that the bedrock of stability grows ever stronger and our confidence in moving forward becomes even more robust.

How to ensure “stability”? The Central Rural Work Conference has laid out a series of measures: launching a new round of initiatives to boost grain production capacity by 100 billion jin; focusing on the two critical factors—arable land and seeds; and improving the mechanism for safeguarding farmers’ incomes from grain production. All localities must, in accordance with these requirements, proceed step by step and work steadily and surely, truly shouldering the responsibility of ensuring food security and jointly writing a successful chapter on “stability.”

As the saying goes, “No matter how fierce the winds and waves may be, one can remain steadfast as if seated on a fishing platform.” The more complex the situation, the more crucial it is to firmly secure the “three rural issues” as a stabilizing anchor and to ensure that China’s food supply remains firmly in its own hands.

Further Reading:

At the Central Rural Work Conference, Xi Jinping emphasized anchoring on the goal of building a strong agricultural country and earnestly ensuring the effective implementation of rural and agricultural work.

[Editor-in-charge: Feng Wenya]

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