{"id":1433562,"date":"2022-04-12T15:15:18","date_gmt":"2022-04-12T19:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1433562"},"modified":"2022-04-12T15:15:29","modified_gmt":"2022-04-12T19:15:29","slug":"xi-jinping-addresses-chinas-food-shortage-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/xi-jinping-addresses-chinas-food-shortage-concerns\/","title":{"rendered":"Xi Jinping Addresses China\u2019s Food Shortage Concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fxi-jinping-addresses-chinas-food-shortage-concerns%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1433562&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\"><span>Chinese dictator Xi Jinping addressed looming fears of a food crisis Sunday during a trip to the southern island of Hainan. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Xi was noticeably less dismissive of China\u2019s lockdown-exacerbated agricultural problems than Chinese state media has been, but expressed confidence that China\u2019s science and industry could surmount all hurdles to achieve his goal of \u201cself-supporting\u201d food security.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>While state media spent the past week <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2022\/04\/07\/china-angrily-denies-evidence-of-slow-planting-potential-crop-shortages\/\"><span>insisting<\/span><\/a><span>\u00a0China has no serious food supply problems, dismissing all evidence to the contrary as a sinister conspiracy by foreign media to demoralize workers with a fake crisis narrative, Xi seemed willing to acknowledge problems lay ahead. He said China could solve them by reducing its need for imports, in particular by improving its seed industry.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cOnly by holding Chinese seeds tightly with our own hands can we stabilize the Chinese rice bowl and achieve food security,\u201d Xi said while visiting the Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory in Hainan.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cTo ensure that China\u2019s seed resources are self-supporting and under better control, self-reliance must be achieved in seed technology,\u201d he declared.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>China\u2019s state-run <\/span><i><span>Global Times<\/span><\/i> <span>dutifully <a href=\"https:\/\/www.globaltimes.cn\/page\/202204\/1259047.shtml\">noted<\/a> that shares of seed production companies \u201croared\u201d by nine percent when the stock markets opened on Monday, while the Shanghai Composite Index was down 2.61 percent overall.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_20630531\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1239930011.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-20630531 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1239930011-1024x683-1.jpg\" alt=\"Farmers seed rice in a field in Wuyi, in China&#039;s eastern Zhejiang province on April 12, 2022. - China OUT (Photo by AFP) \/ China OUT (Photo by STR\/AFP via Getty Images)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Farmers seed rice in a field in Wuyi, in China\u2019s eastern Zhejiang province on April 12, 2022. (STR\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>China\u2019s seed industry \u201chas made great progress but still lags international standards by a big margin,\u201d a\u00a0senior Chinese official <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/china\/science\/article\/3173880\/amid-ukraine-and-covid-19-xi-jinping-puts-chinas-food-security\">admitted<\/a> to the <i>South China Morning Post<\/i> (<em>SCMP<\/em>) on Monday<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Chinese scientists are especially envious of the U.S. genetic \u201cdictionary,\u201d a painstakingly compiled and carefully protected database that helps American companies breed superior crops.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_20572751\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/AP20097594479619.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20572751\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/AP20097594479619.jpg\" alt=\"In this April 6, 2020, photo, Jiang Yuewu, right, prepares to replant his crop of aquatic tubers known as lotus roots in the Huangpi district of Wuhan in central China&#039;s Hubei province. Stuck in the same bind as many other Chinese farmers whose crops are rotting in their fields, Jiang is preparing to throw out a 500-ton harvest of lotus root because anti-coronavirus controls are preventing traders from getting to his farm near Wuhan, where the global pandemic started. (AP Photo\/Ng Han Guan)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>In this April 6, 2020, photo, Jiang Yuewu, right, prepares to replant his crop of aquatic tubers known as lotus roots in the Huangpi district of Wuhan in central China\u2019s Hubei province. (AP Photo\/Ng Han Guan)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>Hainan\u2019s laboratories play a key role in China\u2019s effort to catch up. The tropical island boasts little farmland, but the soil is incredibly rich, so it hosts several major laboratories for agricultural research, plus an oceanographic institute. The <\/span><i><span>SCMP <\/span><\/i><span>noted that China\u2019s Belt and Road infrastructure program has given the Chinese opportunities to bring seeds from many different countries to Hainan\u2019s labs for experimentation.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18660498\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1346455651.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18660498\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1346455651.png\" alt=\"A man is seen carrying farm tools as he walks past an electric tower on October 13, 2021 in Hanchuan, Hubei province, China. China&#039;s electricity consumption, a key barometer of economic activity, went up 6.8 percent year on year in September, as the country&#039;s economy further recovers, official data showed Wednesday. Total power use came in at 694.7 billion kWh last month, the National Energy Administration said. China&#039;s national development and Reform Commission announced on Wednesday, has expanded the floating range of coal-fired power generation transaction price to 20% up and down.\uff08Photo by Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>A man is seen carrying farm tools as he walks past an electric tower on October 13, 2021 in Hanchuan, Hubei province, China. (Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>The <\/span><i><span>Global Times <\/span><\/i><span>continued to insist China has no real food supply problems, ignoring the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2022\/04\/06\/coronavirus-lockdown-prevents-chinese-farmers-from-planting-corn\/\"><span>lockdown-created problems<\/span><\/a><span> cited by many farmers to boast that since \u201c95 percent of staple food grains reaped in the country such as rice and barley are cultivated using self-developed seeds,\u201d China has no reason to worry about global market disruptions caused by the Russian attack on Ukraine.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>In a rare note of caution that deviated from the Chinese state media narrative of blithe unconcern with Russia and Ukraine, one executive from a Chinese biotech startup told the <\/span><i><span>Global Times <\/span><\/i><span>the war was seen as a \u201cwake-up call to China\u2019s agricultural security.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Domestically developed seeds, a crucial part of China\u2019s food security, have gained the attention of the top leadership, as security of agricultural \u201cchips\u201d is shown to be topping the government agenda along with various other aspects of economic security. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/0Yqotlssbg\">https:\/\/t.co\/0Yqotlssbg<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Global Times (@globaltimesnews) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/globaltimesnews\/status\/1513506399351091203?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 11, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>The <\/span><i><span>Global Times <\/span><\/i><span>gushed about all the \u201cmiraculous\u201d seed research being conducted in Hainan, which attracts thousands of scientists and farm workers from other provinces every fall and spring. Over 600 agricultural companies have operations in Hainan, including some foreign firms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>According to the <\/span><i><span>Global Times <\/span><\/i><span>report, these companies have been able to develop improved seeds for corn, rice, and soybeans, the latter being China\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/markets\/us\/chinas-soybean-imports-jan-feb-rise-41-previous-year-customs-2022-03-07\/#:~:text=China%2C%20the%20world&#039;s%20top%20importer,General%20Administration%20of%20Customs%20showed.\"><span>major imported crop<\/span><\/a><span>. China got lucky in March and received more soybeans from abroad than expected, with world markets tight and top exporter Brazil reporting delayed harvests.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Even with the improved seeds, China still has trouble growing enough soybeans. One of the Chinese agricultural corporations that spoke to the <\/span><i><span>Global Times <\/span><\/i><span>said it was planning to plant its soybeans in South America, then export them back to Chinese consumers.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>Xi also visited the Sanya Oceanographic Institution during his trip to Hainan, instructing its researchers to \u201cimprove deep sea science and technology and turn China into a maritime power.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This has very little to do with food security, and more to do with China\u2019s obsession with seizing naval supremacy in the Pacific from the U.S. Navy. China conducts a great deal of deep-sea research billed as pure science, but <\/span><span>actually <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/opinion\/articles\/2021-10-22\/china-s-deep-ocean-dives-may-not-be-what-they-seem\"><span>devoted<\/span><\/a><span> to improving military capabilities and exploiting undersea mineral and energy resources.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Chinese corporations and government officials are growing increasingly nervous about a food crisis in Shanghai, and possibly other locked-down cities, as the Communist Party refuses to back away from its \u201czero-Covid\u201d policies, Reuters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/breakingviews\/shanghai-covid-crisis-puts-china-tech-eggshells-2022-04-11\/\">reported<\/a> Sunday. This could expose supply and distribution problems across China\u2019s food chains, to say nothing of the political damage from starvation in one of the world\u2019s major financial hubs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>China\u2019s heavily-controlled alternative to Twitter, Sina Weibo, leaped into action to address the problem over the weekend by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insider.com\/shanghai-lockdown-china-twitter-weibo-censor-content-food-shortage-2022-4\"><span>censoring<\/span><\/a><span> posts<\/span><span> that refer to food problems in Shanghai.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cGood news! The problem of \u2018buying groceries in Shanghai\u2019 has been completely solved,\u201d one Weibo user wrote sarcastically after zero hits were returned on a search for that phrase.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chinese dictator Xi Jinping addressed looming fears of a food crisis Sunday during a trip to the southern island of Hainan. Xi was noticeably less dismissive of China\u2019s lockdown-exacerbated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1433562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1433562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1433562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1433562\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1433562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1433562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1433562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}