Outside In | How China’s food security challenges shape its decisions at home and abroad
- China is a leading producer and consumer of more food products than many people imagine, making it a pivotal player in global markets
- Food security has been a top priority for decades, and Beijing is unlikely to pursue any policy that puts that at risk
I still recall my astonishment, as part of research inside the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation grouping, after discovering that China leads the world in fruit and vegetable production but loses up to half of what it produces through wastage between the farm and the kitchen table.
That equates to about a quarter of all the fruit and vegetables produced globally every year being lost, without anyone outside China realising it. It means that if China was able to cut food losses along its domestic supply chain, food security would be significantly boosted domestically and worldwide.
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According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, China produces a quarter of the world’s grain and feeds a fifth of the world population with less than 10 per cent of the world’s arable land. It is the world’s leading producer of cereals, cotton, meat, poultry, eggs, fishery products, sugar and edible oils.