With 9 percent of the world's arable land, China has continued to feed nearly 20 percent of the world's population. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), the country has increased and diversified its food production, facilitated through refined technology, policy support and hardworking people.
The following facts and figures offer a glimpse of how China has ensured food sufficiency over the past five years:
-- This year's autumn grain production is generally guaranteed, which will help keep annual grain output above 650 million tonnes for the sixth consecutive year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
-- Domestic output can fully satisfy domestic demand for rice and wheat and meet over 95 percent of corn demand.
-- China's current grain stockpile is at a historic high, and that of rice and wheat, the country's two staple crops, can feed the entire population for a year.
-- Technology is playing a significant role in China's agricultural production. Machinery handles over 70 percent of the sowing, planting and harvest of the country's agricultural products, up from 63.8 percent at the end of 2015.
-- Fixed-asset investment in agriculture grossed 8.64 trillion yuan (about 1.29 trillion U.S. dollars) from 2016 to September 2020, 1.66 times the total during the 12th Five-Year Plan period ending 2015.
-- The country strives to develop high-standard farmland, which is estimated to increase grain production capacity by up to 20 percent. It aims to develop an additional 5.3 million hectares of high-standard farmland in 2020, raising the total to 53.3 million hectares by year-end.
