China News Service, January 23: The State Council Information Office held a press conference on January 23 to introduce the operation of agriculture and rural economy in 2023.
Chen Bangxun, director of the Development Planning Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said at the meeting that our country is a country with a large population and a large food consumption. It implements a national food security strategy that "focuses on us, based on the country, ensuring production capacity, moderate imports, and scientific and technological support" .
The use of international grain sources to appropriately fill the gap between production and demand of scarce varieties and improve the variety structure has played an important role in ensuring grain supply and stabilizing prices.
Chen Bangxun introduced that according to statistics from the General Administration of Customs, my country will import 160 million tons of grain in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 11.7%.
From a structural perspective, soybeans still account for the majority.
The annual import volume was 99.41 million tons, an increase of 11.4% over the previous year, accounting for more than 60% of all grain imports.
Importing so many soybeans not only meets the consumption demand for edible vegetable oil, but also meets the demand for soybean meal for livestock and poultry breeding.
He said that at present, our country has been deeply involved in the international agricultural products market, and our agricultural products have come in and out. The import volume of agricultural products ranks first in the world, making it a large market for agricultural products in the world; the export volume of agricultural products ranks fifth in the world, with fruits, vegetables, water, etc. Products and other high-quality agricultural products "sail away" and enter the international market.
In 2023, my country's agricultural exports will reach US$98.93 billion, an increase of 0.9% over the previous year.
What is the food security situation in our country?
Chen Bangxun believes that it can be judged from the aspects of production, structure, inventory, etc.: First, production has had bumper harvests year after year.
my country's grain output has remained stable at more than 1.3 trillion kilograms for nine consecutive years, and the per capita grain share exceeds 490 kilograms, which is higher than the international food security standard line of 400 kilograms per capita.
The second is to optimize the variety structure.
The production of rations exceeds demand every year in a row, which is absolutely guaranteed, and the supply of high-quality rice and special wheat has increased.
For corn, which has a large increase in demand, its output has also increased significantly, and the supply and demand situation has significantly improved.
The expansion of soybean planting has achieved remarkable results, and the self-sufficiency rate has been further improved.
Third, there are ample grain stocks.
At present, my country's grain inventory-to-consumption ratio is much higher than the 17%-18% safety level proposed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Chen Bangxun emphasized that my country’s grain production has increased, its structure is excellent, its reserves are sufficient, and its food security is guaranteed.
In the next step, we will continue to implement the national food security strategy in depth, solidly promote the storage of grain in the land and the storage of grain in technology, firmly grasp the two key points of seeds and cultivated land, strengthen support policies, consolidate the foundation of food security in an all-round way, and firmly grasp the key points of food security. maintain national food security initiative.