From Self-Sufficiency to Self-Supporting: China's Food Security Under Overseas Farmland Investment and International Norms

Abstract

Current studies on China’s food security are largely based on the perspective of grain self-sufficiency, and discuss whether China can feed itself at the national level through its grain production. As a result, the Chinese grain self-sufficiency policy of maintaining a self-sufficiency rate of above 95% tends to be regarded as a benchmark for evaluating China’s food security status. However, recent studies and documents indicate that China is having difficulty adhering to its grain self-sufficiency policy and, therefore, is looking for overseas agricultural resources to support its increasing demand for grain. Today, China has become a major player in investing in farmland in foreign countries for grain production. During 2007-2013, at least 5.3 million hectares of overseas farmland, equal to 5% of its domestic sown land for grain crops in 2011, were secured and operated by Chinese firms. Accordingly, China’s grain demand will be largely supported by Chinese-owned farmlands both locally and overseas, resulting in a new scenario for China’s grain policy, that of being self-supporting.

This practice of importing more grain from Chinese-owned farmlands abroad will eventually affect China’s long-standing norm of seeking to maintain a 95% grain self-sufficiency rate. Thus, important questions have been raised: How does China acquire farmlands overseas? To what extent does the shifting Chinese grain policy challenge international norms? In response to this developing and ongoing story of China’s policy shift from self-sufficiency to being self-supporting, this paper argues that China’s adjustment in terms of its food security policy not only further secures its grain supply, but also influences international norms. An important finding of this paper is China’s reliance on government supported companies and bilateral agreements, not only to safeguard production stemming from investments, but also to influence the regional food security status.

Keywords: food security, farmland investment, grain self-sufficiency, China