[Epoch Times December 15, 2021](Interviews by Epoch Times reporters Lin Cenxin and Luo Ya) The General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Xi Jinping has repeatedly mentioned the issue of food security. What to do?” As the topic, Xi’s speech at the economic work conference was published, which aroused the discussion about whether China’s grain is really experiencing problems?
Party media stated that Xi Jinping mentioned food security at the Central Economic Work Conference held on December 8. On the issue of survival, let others get stuck on our necks.” He also said that a lot of fertile fields are not planted with food, but farms are rebuilt, and flowers and fruits are planted. What about food?
Precautions under the continuous confrontation between China and the United States
U.S. economist Li Hengqing told The Epoch Times on the 14th that the party media focused on publishing Xi’s speech in order to “prevent for a rainy day.”
“In fact, where is a big worry? Because now his diplomacy is too bad, once a problem arises, neighboring countries are not his allies, and neighboring countries may impose restrictions on him. When restricted, there will be a big gap in its grain.” He said.
Taiwanese financial expert Huang Shicong told The Epoch Times on the 14th that China’s food issue has been frequently raised in the past two years. The main reason is that the Beijing authorities are aware of the changes in Sino-US relations and are unhappy with other countries. Facing troubles on imports.
Huang Shicong said, “The main reason is that he (Xi Jinping) also realized that in the future world, Sino-US confrontation should be a constant fact, and he is also worried that the United States will eventually use food to stifle China’s development. Obviously we need to be prepared in this regard, so he hopes to be self-sufficient in food.”
Although the authorities want to “prepare for a rainy day,” China’s grain reserves appear shady.
Li Hengqing mentioned that when the Sino-U.S. trade war started in 2018, Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang once ordered to find out how much grain there was, but as soon as he announced that he was going to check, the national grain storage depots from north to south started to catch fire. It caught fire. Later, the central government couldn’t help it, and quickly ordered that no investigation was made. “In fact, at that time they realized that food (reserves) was very dangerous.”
“National Grain Reserve” is regarded as a state secret
According to official data from the Communist Party of China, China’s total grain output has remained above 1.3 trillion catties for seven consecutive years, and the output in 2021 will be 1365.7 billion catties (contract 682 million tons), an increase of 2.0% over the previous year.
According to data from the General Administration of Customs of the Communist Party of China, China’s grain imports have remained above 100 million tons every year since 2015. From January to October this year, grain imports were 137.956 million tons, mainly soybeans, corn, and wheat.
“It is said that the annual grain production is increasing, and the population is decreasing every year. Under such circumstances, there should not be too much crisis in grain.” Li Hengqing said, but the question is how much grain is reserved, “that is, the national grain reserve. Nobody knows how many there are, which is called a state secret.”
Qin Yuyun, Director of the Grain Reserve Department of the State Administration of Grain and Material Reserves of China, mentioned China’s grain reserves in November this year. He only said that “the total amount of grain stocks is sufficient and is at a historical high.” Consumer demand”, but did not specify specific data.
Li Hengqing mentioned that the total capacity of China’s standard grain reserve is 670 million tons, and the simple storage capacity is 240 million tons. “The national reserve can store all the grain produced by Chinese farmers in a year. (Xi Jinping) It shouldn’t be anxious now. Let’s talk about the survival issue this time. It implies that he is really anxious.”
Chinese agricultural analyst Ma Wenfeng told Radio Free Asia earlier that in the past two years, state-owned grain companies in the Northeast have not had much reserves and their grain depots are empty. They can only import large quantities of corn and wheat to fill the national treasury in order to receive government subsidies.
China’s data is distorted and the food problem may worsen
After the end of the Central Economic Work Conference, Lou Jiwei, a scholar of the Chinese Communist Party and former Chinese Finance Minister, rarely criticized that some economic indicators did not appear in official statistics, and all the economic indicators that were exposed were “very good” and did not reflect at all. The risk of economic downturn.
The problem of falsification of the CCP’s statistical data is also reflected in the grain data.
“The figures of the National Bureau of Statistics are all faked. They didn’t count them. They were all reported by the agricultural bureaus, commercial bureaus, and statistical bureaus of the provinces, cities, and autonomous regions. Just as the three northeast provinces said this year that grain production has increased, but these officials did not count them. Even if they did, they would not be able to count them.” Li Hengqing said.
Huang Shicong believes that the CCP’s economic work conference has expressed concern about China’s economy in the coming year. In particular, the word “stable” was mentioned 25 times in the conference, and it is rare that China may have poor demand, supply, and expectations in the future. , Which is similar to the situation estimated by the outside world, “it shows that they (the top CCP) also recognize this situation.”
Under the influence of factors such as deterioration in international relations and economic downturn, Huang Shicong believes that China’s food production is still facing problems such as the migration of rural population, the reduction of labor force, the aging of the population, and the frequent occurrence of extreme weather such as droughts and floods. “Impact on the granary. , The future will not slow down, it will only get worse.”
Editor in charge: Fang Ming#
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