World Grain - April 2015 - 26

COUNTRY FOCUS

Focus on China
Grain production in world's most
populated country continues to rise
by Chris Lyddon

China's grain production is at or near record levels as government policy aims to encourage production to feed the world's
largest population.
The International Grains Council (IGC) forecasts a rise in China's total grain production to 349.3 million tonnes in 2014-15,
compared with 348.2 million the year before. It includes 126.2 million tonnes of wheat, up from 121.9 million tonnes the year before.
China's maize production is forecast to fall to 215.7 million
tonnes in 2014-15, from 218.5 million the year before. Its forecast barley production is put at 1.6 million tonnes, down from 1.7
million the year before.
China's sorghum crop is forecast at 2.6 million tonnes in 201415, down from 2.9 million the year before. Rye is forecast at an
unchanged 600,000 tonnes.
China's total grain imports in 2014-15 are forecast at a total of
16 million tonnes, down from 19.3 million the year before.
Wheat imports for 2014-15 are predicted at 1.5 million tonnes,
down from 6.7 million the year before. Wheat exports in 2014-15
are put at 400,000 tonnes, up from 300,000.
Maize imports are put at 2.5 million tonnes, down from 5 million the year before, with exports at an unchanged 100,000 tonnes.
Barley imports are put at 4.5 million tonnes, up from 4.3 million.
The IGC forecasts China's rice crop in 2014-15 at 144.5 million tonnes, up from
RUSSIA
142.5 million tonnes
KAZAKHSTAN
the year before. ForeMONGOLIA
cast rice imports are 3.9
KYRGYZSTAN
million tonnes, up from
TAJIKISTAN
3.7 million tonnes the
PAKISTAN
previous year. China is
CHINA
also forecast to export
NEPAL
BHUTAN
INDIA
an unchanged 400,000
BANGLADESH
tonnes of rice.
MYANMAR VIETNAM
It puts China's soyLAOS
bean crop in 2014-15 at
11.8 million tonnes, down from 12 million the previous year. China is the biggest soybean importer listed,
importing 74.5 million tonnes in 2014-15, up from 70.8
million tonnes the previous year.
The country's rapeseed crop in 2014-15 is forecast unchanged
at 14.5 million tonnes.
"China's wheat, rice, and corn production are forecast to maintain record or near-record levels, supported by high governmentNORTH
KOREA

SOUTH
KOREA

Key Facts
Capital: Beijing
Population: 1,355,692,576 (July 2014 est.)
Religions: Buddhist 18.2%, Christian 5.1%, Muslim 1.8%,
folk religion 21.9%, Hindu < .1%, Jewish < .1%, other
0.7% (includes Daoist (Taoist)), unaffiliated 52.2%. note:
officially atheist (2010 est.)
Location: Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea,
Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North
Korea and Vietnam.
Government: Communist state. Chief of state: President
Xi Jinping (since March 14, 2013); head of government:
Premier Li Keqiang (since March 16, 2013).
Economy: Since the late 1970s, China has moved from a
closed, centrally planned system to a more market-oriented
one that plays a major global role. Reforms began with
the phasing out of collectivized agriculture, and expanded
to include the gradual liberalization of prices, fiscal
decentralization, increased autonomy for state enterprises,
growth of the private sector, development of stock markets
and a modern banking system, and opening to foreign
trade and investment. China has implemented reforms in
a gradualist fashion. In recent years, China has renewed its
support for state-owned enterprises in sectors considered
important to "economic security," explicitly looking to foster
globally competitive industries. After keeping its currency
tightly linked to the U.S. dollar for years, in July 2005 China
moved to an exchange rate system that references a basket
of currencies. From mid-2005 to late 2008, cumulative
appreciation of the renminbi against the U.S. dollar was
more than 20%, but the exchange rate remained virtually
pegged to the dollar from the onset of the global financial
crisis until June 2010, when Beijing allowed resumption
of a gradual appreciation and expanded the daily trading
band within which the RMB is permitted to fluctuate. The
restructuring of the economy and resulting efficiency gains
have contributed to a more than tenfold increase in GDP
since 1978. Measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP)
basis that adjusts for price differences, China in 2013 stood
as the second-largest economy in the world after the U.S.,
having surpassed Japan in 2001. The dollar values of China's
agricultural and industrial output each exceed those of the
U.S.; China is second to the U.S. in the value of services it
produces. Still, per capita income is below the world average.
GDP per capita: $9,800 (2013 est.); inflation: 2.6% (2013
est.); unemployment: 4.1% (2013 est.).
Currency: Renminbi yuan (RMB): 6.20 Renminbi yuan
equal 1 U.S. dollar (March 20, 2015).
Exports: $2.21 trillion (2013 est.): electrical and other
machinery, including data processing equipment, apparel,
radio telephone handsets, textiles, integrated circuits.
Imports: $1.95 trillion (2013 est.): electrical and other
machinery, oil and mineral fuels; nuclear reactor, boiler, and
machinery components; optical and medical equipment,
metal ores, motor vehicles; soybeans.
Major crops/agricultural products: World leader in
gross value of agricultural output; rice, wheat, potatoes,
corn, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, apples, cotton, oilseed;
pork, fish.
Agriculture: 10% of GDP and 33.6% of the labor force.
Internet: Code: .cn; 20.602 million (2012) hosts and 389
million (2009) users.
Source: CIA World Factbook

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