Aerial view of the cereal warehouse in the COFCO National Reserve in Hangzhou, Eastern Province, March 4, 2025.
CFOTO | Future Publishing | Getty Images
China raised its annual cereal production target to about 700 million tons on Wednesday and expanded its agricultural inventory budget, taking stronger measures to protect food supplies as tensions with trading partners escalated.
Last year, the world’s largest importer of agricultural commodities brought over 157 million tons of cereals and soybeans, but is seeking to reduce its massive dependence on most supplies from the United States and Brazil.
Beijing has raised its budget for storing grains, cooking oils and other materials in 2025 by 6.1% from a year ago to RMB 131.66 billion (US$18.12 billion), an official report said.
It also allocated RMB 54.05 billion in subsidies to agricultural insurance premiums.
The 2025 domestic cereal production target will be higher after the country harvested a record 706.5 million tons last year compared to the 2024 target of 650 million tons.
“We have the foundation and support necessary to achieve this with strategies for implementing food crop production, improving farmland management and improving the application of technology, and improving our ability to ensure food security,” the official National Development and Reform Commission report said.
Beijing also said it would provide more support to the milk and dairy industry facing oversupply problems, as it strengthened its commitment to existing measures to increase crop yields and stimulate planting.
The report also said China will promote the construction and improve connectivity of storage facilities for cereals, marshmallows, sugar, meat and fertilizers.
“China’s stock budget increase is part of an effort to establish a minimum baseline or prevent food reserves from falling to a certain level,” said Genevieve Donnellon-May, a researcher at Oxford Global Society.
Measures to maintain food security have increased Beijing’s efforts to prepare for the United States and the increasingly complex geopolitical and geoeconomic challenges, she said.
In addition to the U.S. tariffs issue, China has also conducted a trade investigation into imports of pork and dairy from the EU and Canola due to disputes over tariffs on electric vehicles made in China.
According to customs data, the total value of China’s agricultural imports fell by 8% to $215 billion.
Encourage farmers
China imports the soybeans it consumes, and China will expand coverage of full cost and production income insurance for soybeans, a move that will encourage farmers to grow rapeseed.
Meanwhile, it said it will continue to work to reduce the use of soybean meals in livestock feed.
Over the years, China has explored the use of low-protein animal feed or alternative meals such as rapeseed or cotton to reduce the demand for imported beans.
China will expand oilseed cultivation and stabilize production of sugar crops, cotton and natural rubber, the report said.
In addition, it will improve the cereal pricing mechanism and implement a minimum purchase price policy for rice and wheat.
“This news could signal the country’s major cereal-growing provinces to further boost yields and output,” Donnellon-May said.
