China’s food problem: Issues of system transformation and security in a crisis

Abstract

Against the background of a global decline in food security over the past three to four years, China, remaining the world’s largest food importer, has made notable progress in improving its food security. China’s food security transformation has greatly improved not only the availability but also the affordability of food, as well as the sustainability of the Chinese food system. The increase in agricultural production, including grain production in China, indicates a transition from an extensive development model with high resource dependence to a sustainable intensification model. As a result of rapid economic and social development, the food pattern has changed based on high value foods such as meat, dairy products, fish and fish products. However, there are a number of serious problems in China’s food system. China has insufficient self-sufficiency and high import dependence on a number of food products. New to China’s nutritional challenges are the overweight part of the population and the resulting increasing burden on the health care system. In addition, China’s food losses exceed those of developed countries. The changes that the world economy is undergoing, the influence of non-market factors such as ideology, geopolitics and challenges to the multilateral trade and investment system, can seriously disrupt the global agricultural market and reduce the food security of China, which is heavily dependent on foreign food trade. The transformation of China’s food system is aimed at preventing and eliminating the risks of disruption of food imports, diversifying import sources, reducing the cost of agricultural products through scientific and technological progress and increasing investment in infrastructure, the transition of Chinese agriculture from a strategy of increasing production to improving the quality of products and its security.