John Phillips | CNBC.com’s Digital Editor
State media reported that China will deepen its rural reforms as part of an effort to revitalize the agricultural sector and strengthen food security in the face of U.S. tariffs, economic slowdown and climate change.
According to the State News Agency, the State Council’s annual rural policy blueprint (called the “first document”) outlines plans to improve reward and subsidy systems in major cereal production areas, promoting industrialization of biotechnology cultivation, and other measures.
Last year, the world’s top cereal importers reached a record 706.5 million tons, an increase of 1.6% from 2023.
The latest policy guidelines promote China’s focus on self-sufficiency and supply stability in response to potential disruptions in agricultural trade with the United States, the EU and Canada.
While GM and gene-edited soybeans, wheat and corn have been approved, cultivation is still limited and closely controlled, and the progress and scale of cultivation is unclear.
China will monitor and regulate pig production capacity and support the beef and dairy industry, while encouraging financial institutions to increase funding for rural revitalization, the document said.
