British Media: The Chinese Food Is Not Sufficient And The Chinese People May Need To Farm Overseas
British Reuters reported on April 18 that in order to meet the growth of demand, China should expand overseas farming, and experts said hat due to limited land and low productivity, as the world's most populous country and the largest food consumption country, China should expand the scale of overseas farming to ensure that their populations can have enough food to eat.
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences anticipates that in 2011 the agricultural trade deficit in China increased by nearly 50 percent, up to $ 34.12 billion and in 2012 that number will continue to expand to about $ 40 billion.
Experts from Academy of Social Sciences, Institute of Rural Development said at a news conference that China still remained more or less self-sufficient in food, but it should make full use of the international market to ensure stable supply of agricultural products through a combination of importing and expanding overseas.
In the agriculture, China does not enjoy much advantage. The per capita arable land is less than 40% of the global average and the water is only 1/4 of the global average.
Although China has achieved growth of grains for eight consecutive years, the increase in production can not meet the higher food consumption caused by the rapid urbanization and industrialization. In 2011, the as the world's largest rice-growing countries, China became a net importer of corn, rice and wheat for the first time in history. Successive years of bumper harvests also failed to alleviate the tight supply of agricultural products and there is no sign of slowdown of the demand for the grain growth because in some areas farmers have abandoned farming, and become migrant workers in the city.
Unfavorable conditions of soil degradation and water scarcity make it more difficult to maintain a balance between the supply of agricultural products and the demand. China's State Council Development Research Center of Rural Economy Research Department indicated that soybean, cotton, sugar, cooking oil and other agricultural products will be imported for a long time, while the overall food production will meet sharp fluctuations in tune with the weather conditions.
Some Asian and African countries have a large number of uncultivated lands, and the Chinese-funded enterprises investment on the local growing will contribute to global food supply. This also means that China will be able to obtain a stable supply. Today, about 40 Chinese-funded enterprises have begun farming business in more than 30 countries, with a total investment of $ 2.43 billion.
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences anticipates that in 2011 the agricultural trade deficit in China increased by nearly 50 percent, up to $ 34.12 billion and in 2012 that number will continue to expand to about $ 40 billion.
Experts from Academy of Social Sciences, Institute of Rural Development said at a news conference that China still remained more or less self-sufficient in food, but it should make full use of the international market to ensure stable supply of agricultural products through a combination of importing and expanding overseas.
In the agriculture, China does not enjoy much advantage. The per capita arable land is less than 40% of the global average and the water is only 1/4 of the global average.
Although China has achieved growth of grains for eight consecutive years, the increase in production can not meet the higher food consumption caused by the rapid urbanization and industrialization. In 2011, the as the world's largest rice-growing countries, China became a net importer of corn, rice and wheat for the first time in history. Successive years of bumper harvests also failed to alleviate the tight supply of agricultural products and there is no sign of slowdown of the demand for the grain growth because in some areas farmers have abandoned farming, and become migrant workers in the city.
Unfavorable conditions of soil degradation and water scarcity make it more difficult to maintain a balance between the supply of agricultural products and the demand. China's State Council Development Research Center of Rural Economy Research Department indicated that soybean, cotton, sugar, cooking oil and other agricultural products will be imported for a long time, while the overall food production will meet sharp fluctuations in tune with the weather conditions.
Some Asian and African countries have a large number of uncultivated lands, and the Chinese-funded enterprises investment on the local growing will contribute to global food supply. This also means that China will be able to obtain a stable supply. Today, about 40 Chinese-funded enterprises have begun farming business in more than 30 countries, with a total investment of $ 2.43 billion.
Source...