China creates artificial hunger on the planet
COFCO Group, a major Chinese state-owned food manufacturer,
operates one of China's largest food storage bases in the port of
Dalian, in the northeastern part of the country. It stores beans and
grains harvested at home and abroad in 310 huge silos. From there,
calories are shipped throughout China by rail and sea. China is
maintaining its food stocks at "historically high levels," Qin
Yuyong, head of the grain stocks department at the National Food
and Strategic Reserves Administration, told reporters in November.
Our stocks of wheat can meet demand for a year and a half. There
are no problems with food supply.
According to the USDA, China is expected to hold 69% of the
world's corn in the first half of 2022, 60% of rice and 51% of
wheat. Projections reflect an increase of about 20 percentage points
over the past 10 years, and the data clearly shows that China
continues to stockpile grain. China spent $98.1 billion on food
imports (excluding beverages) in 2020, up 4.6 times from a decade
earlier, according to China's General Administration of Customs
(
https://youtu.be/Yp3fdj5FBPc).
Between January and September 2021, China imported more food
than at least since 2016, i.e. from comparable data. Over the past
five years, imports of soybeans, corn and wheat to China have
increased two to twelve times due to strong purchases in the US,
Brazil and other supplying countries. Imports of beef, pork, dairy
products and fruits have increased by two to five times. Some
Chinese importers are assisted by Chinese overseas acquisition
companies. Leading meat processor WH Group acquired a European
counterpart in June, and Inner Mongolia-based Yili Industrial Group
acquired a leading New Zealand dairy company in 2019
(
https://youtu.be/2lwSRmPDwgk).
Food prices are rising all over the world. The food price index,
calculated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations, was about 30% higher in November than a year earlier.
The hoarding in China is one of the reasons prices are rising,
said Akio Shibata, president of the Natural Resources Research
Institute in Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo. China is importing
more grains and other food products because domestic production
cannot keep up with consumption. While the demand for feed for
pigs and other livestock is growing due to economic growth, there
is also an increasing number of consumers who are looking for
high quality foreign products.
The production of wheat and other foodstuffs in China, as well
as the area of land used for agriculture, remained at the same level
in 2015. Agricultural productivity in China is low due to the
dispersal of agricultural land and soil pollution, said Goro
Takahashi, Honorary professor at Aichi University and expert
on Chinese agriculture. Agricultural production will continue to
stall as farmers migrate to urban areas. Chinese President Xi
Jinping has consistently stressed the importance of food security.
The National People's Congress, China's national legislature,
passed a food waste law in April that bans excessive leftovers.
At the end of October, the Chinese Communist Party and the State
Council instructed officials on how to reduce food waste.
And the NPC hasn't finished the food safety legislation. Chinese
people aged 50 and over experienced food shortages during the
Cultural Revolution (from 1966 to 1976). People of our
generation remember the famine more or less, Xi once said,
according to Chinas state news agency Xinhua
(
https://youtu.be/6pbOkKY8hWk).
Throughout history, food shortages have caused popular unrest.
They were a factor in the uprisings that overthrew the Chinese
dynasties. And the world's second-largest economy is currently
facing food uncertainty due to factors such as deteriorating
relations with the US and Australia, which could drastically
change the terms of imports. In fact, this may be what is prompting
China to increase its calorie reserves.
According to the UN, the number of people living in starving regions
exceeded 700 million in 2020, more than 100 million more than five
years earlier. Although developed countries in general are
responsible for the famine, Takahashi said: China's responsibility
is heavier. China should do its part to solve the problem of uneven
food distribution.
