Why China piles up grain

China has amassed more than half of the world's stockpiles of corn and other cereals and is expected to continue expanding its food reserves, statistics show.
In the first half of 2022, China will have 69 percent of the world's reserves of corn, 60 percent of rice and 51 percent of wheat, according to the US Department of Agriculture, RT reports.
This projection indicates an increase of about 20 percentage points in the last 10 years.
Data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs show that in 2020, that country spent 98.1 billion dollars on the import of food (without drinks), which is 4.6 times more than a decade ago.
In the first nine months of this year, China imported the most food since 2016.
Over the past five years, Chinese imports of soybeans, corn and wheat have increased between two and 12 times, and most have been imported from the United States, Brazil and other countries that are major exporters. Imports of beef and pork, milk and fruit increased between two and five times in the same period.
Experts state that China is importing more and more cereals and other foods because domestic production cannot keep up with consumption.
The head of China's grain reserves at the National Administration for Strategic Food Reserves, Qin Yujun, said recently that China maintains its food stocks at a "historically high level".
"Our wheat stocks can meet the needs for a year and a half. "There are no problems with food supply," he said, according to RT.