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BEIJING - CHINA is finding it increasingly hard to balance its grain supply and demand, and will have to depend on imports for food oil in the foreseeable future, the head of the State Grain Administration said in remarks published on Monday.
Although China has repeatedly stressed that the world's largest grain consumer will mainly depend on domestic supplies, its consumption is rising much faster than its harvests.
'We now have less room to increase acreage planted with grains, and it's becoming more and more difficult to steadily raise yields,' said Nie Zhenbang, citing shrinking arable lands and water shortages.
'It is increasingly difficult now to keep domestic grain market and price stability,' he said in the official People's Daily.
International grains prices have risen to record highs, boosted by drought, higher production costs and expectations of some futures investors' expectations that China will have to import a lot more grain at some point in the future.
Mr Nie also noted that fast expanding demand had made China increasingly dependent on imports for edible oil.
'It is impossible to reverse the trend in the short term that we are more and more dependent on external supply,' he said.
He said China should continue to subsidise farmers and curb exports. -- REUTERS
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