China’s Grain Security Guarantee Law (“GS Law”), adopted by the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress on 29 December 2023, hs been officially implemented since 1 June 2024. From now on, China officially begins to operate a national security mechanism in the field of grain which refers to wheat, rice, corn, soybeans, sorghum, barley, buckwheat, mung beans, potatoes, millet, and oats. The GS Law proposes to ensure basic self-sufficiency in grains and absolute safety of food grains including wheat and rice, and reduce dependence on overseas purchases of grains from the aspects of cultivated land protection, grain production, storage, circulation, processing, emergency, and conservation. This article briefly introduces the main measures proposed by the GS Law in these aspects.
In China, cultivated land is mainly used for the production of grain and agricultural products such as cotton, oil, sugar, vegetables, and forage and feed. It is the State Council’s responsibility to divide the land in the country into agricultural, ecological, and urban areas, and determine the scope of provincial cultivated land and permanent basic farmland. Governments at or above the county level are responsible for ensuring that the total amount of cultivated land and permanent basic farmland in the region does not decrease and their quality gradually improves. In terms of cultivated land protection, China will strictly control the occupation of various cultivated land, and the conversion of cultivated land into other agricultural land such as forest land, grassland, and garden land. When it is inevitable to occupy cultivated land, compensation and supplementary land which amount and quality shall be the same as those of the occupied land should be provided. Governments at or above the county level shall monitor the quality and planting purposes of cultivated land, take measures such as soil improvement, governance, and restoration to increase the production capacity of medium and low-yield fields, govern degraded cultivated land, and improve the quality of cultivated land. In addition, GS Laws and regulations related to the protection of the quality of cultivated land will be promulgated. In 2022, China’s Black Soil Protection Law was issued for protection the black or dark humus topsoil with excellent production capacity in Heilongjiang Province, Jilin Province, Liaoning Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. They are vital to China’s agricultural production.
In terms of food production, China’s measures to ensure food security include protecting and improving germplasm resources, effectively utilizing water resources, building water conservancy infrastructure, promoting agricultural machinery and technology, improving the disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities of grain production, and strengthening the construction of grain production functional areas and important agricultural product production protection areas. Regarding germplasm resources, China will establish a national agricultural germplasm resource bank and a breeding system to improve seed supply and guarantee capabilities. In addition, research in breeding and protection of new plant variety rights will receive more attention. To supply seeds for grain production in normal and disaster situations, governments at or above the provincial level will establish a seed reserve system.
In terms of grain reserves, China will establish national and local grain reserve systems to regulate grain supply and demand, stabilize the grain market, and respond to emergencies. Enterprises that undertake the national and provincial storage of grain reserves shall not engage in commercial operations, while the other enterprises for local governments shall separate their storage from commercial operations and report any grain security risk. The purchase, sale, rotation, and use of government grain reserves must be recorded throughout the process to ensure that the reserve information is searchable and traceable.
Regarding grain supply and demand, China will adopt various means to regulate and establish a grain risk fund system for stabilizing its grain market. Governments at or above the county level are responsible for the construction and protection of grain circulation infrastructure such as grain storage and logistics. Operators engaged in grain procurement, storage, processing, and sales, as well as feed and industrial grain enterprises, shall submit basic data such as grain purchase, storage, and sales to the located county government. In addition, operators above a certain scale shall implement the grain inventory under specific circumstances. Under special conditions, the State Council may decide to implement policy-based storage of key grain varieties in major grain-producing areas or take corresponding measures by China’s Price Law. At the same time, governments at or above the county level may take measures to regulate the grain market, such as releasing grain market information, implementing policy-based grain storage and sales, implementing grain inventory under specific circumstances, organizing the release of reserve grain, guiding grain processing and transformation, or limiting the amount of grain used for deep processing of grain.
China focuses on supporting the development of the grain processing industry in grain production functional areas and important agricultural product production protection areas where the local governments are responsible for planning regional grain processing capacity and arranging local grain conversion. It will coordinate the promotion of grain primary processing, deep processing, and comprehensive utilization processing; increase the supply of high-quality and nutritious grain processing products, and give priority to food grain processing; encourage enterprises in major grain sales areas to establish grain source bases, processing bases, and storage and logistics facilities in major grain production areas; and support the construction of grain processing raw material bases, infrastructure, and logistics systems.
China will establish a grain emergency management system with unified leadership, hierarchical responsibility, and local management. Under this system, the State Council is responsible for formulating national grain emergency plans; provincial governments are responsible for formulating grain emergency plans for their administrative regions and approving grain emergency plans formulated by county governments; and the governments at or above the county level are responsible for building a grain emergency system, planning and managing grain emergency storage, transportation, processing, and supply networks, and establishing a grain emergency evacuation mechanism when necessary. Meanwhile, China will also establish a reporting system for abnormal fluctuations in the grain market. In the event of an emergency, governments at or above the county level must immediately report it, initiate emergency responses, and take emergency disposal measures including organizing grain processing, transportation and supply, requisition of food, storage facilities, sites, transportation, etc.
In terms of food conservation, China encourages and supports the promotion of practical technologies such as timely agricultural mechanical harvesting and drying at the production site; encourages food operators to use advanced and efficient facilities and equipment to reduce grain losses and waste; and promotes the application of moderate grain processing technology to increase the output rate of finished grain. Governments at or above the county level are responsible for food conservation in food production, storage, circulation, processing, and consumption. Food producers are required to strengthen the protection of grain during their growth period and the management of production operations to reduce grain losses and waste in the stages of sowing, field management, and harvesting.
In conclusion, the Law stipulates the most basic principles and regulations on grain. The refinement and implementation of relevant provisions need to refer to relevant specialized regulations including Land Administration Law, Seed Law, Regulation on the Administration of Grain Circulation, Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Law, Anti-food Waste Law, and Law on Flood Control. The implementation of these regulations must obey the GS Law. The GS Law is the basic and commanding upper-level law that connects them.
In China, cultivated land is mainly used for the production of grain and agricultural products such as cotton, oil, sugar, vegetables, and forage and feed. It is the State Council’s responsibility to divide the land in the country into agricultural, ecological, and urban areas, and determine the scope of provincial cultivated land and permanent basic farmland. Governments at or above the county level are responsible for ensuring that the total amount of cultivated land and permanent basic farmland in the region does not decrease and their quality gradually improves. In terms of cultivated land protection, China will strictly control the occupation of various cultivated land, and the conversion of cultivated land into other agricultural land such as forest land, grassland, and garden land. When it is inevitable to occupy cultivated land, compensation and supplementary land which amount and quality shall be the same as those of the occupied land should be provided. Governments at or above the county level shall monitor the quality and planting purposes of cultivated land, take measures such as soil improvement, governance, and restoration to increase the production capacity of medium and low-yield fields, govern degraded cultivated land, and improve the quality of cultivated land. In addition, GS Laws and regulations related to the protection of the quality of cultivated land will be promulgated. In 2022, China’s Black Soil Protection Law was issued for protection the black or dark humus topsoil with excellent production capacity in Heilongjiang Province, Jilin Province, Liaoning Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. They are vital to China’s agricultural production.
In terms of food production, China’s measures to ensure food security include protecting and improving germplasm resources, effectively utilizing water resources, building water conservancy infrastructure, promoting agricultural machinery and technology, improving the disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities of grain production, and strengthening the construction of grain production functional areas and important agricultural product production protection areas. Regarding germplasm resources, China will establish a national agricultural germplasm resource bank and a breeding system to improve seed supply and guarantee capabilities. In addition, research in breeding and protection of new plant variety rights will receive more attention. To supply seeds for grain production in normal and disaster situations, governments at or above the provincial level will establish a seed reserve system.
In terms of grain reserves, China will establish national and local grain reserve systems to regulate grain supply and demand, stabilize the grain market, and respond to emergencies. Enterprises that undertake the national and provincial storage of grain reserves shall not engage in commercial operations, while the other enterprises for local governments shall separate their storage from commercial operations and report any grain security risk. The purchase, sale, rotation, and use of government grain reserves must be recorded throughout the process to ensure that the reserve information is searchable and traceable.
Regarding grain supply and demand, China will adopt various means to regulate and establish a grain risk fund system for stabilizing its grain market. Governments at or above the county level are responsible for the construction and protection of grain circulation infrastructure such as grain storage and logistics. Operators engaged in grain procurement, storage, processing, and sales, as well as feed and industrial grain enterprises, shall submit basic data such as grain purchase, storage, and sales to the located county government. In addition, operators above a certain scale shall implement the grain inventory under specific circumstances. Under special conditions, the State Council may decide to implement policy-based storage of key grain varieties in major grain-producing areas or take corresponding measures by China’s Price Law. At the same time, governments at or above the county level may take measures to regulate the grain market, such as releasing grain market information, implementing policy-based grain storage and sales, implementing grain inventory under specific circumstances, organizing the release of reserve grain, guiding grain processing and transformation, or limiting the amount of grain used for deep processing of grain.
China focuses on supporting the development of the grain processing industry in grain production functional areas and important agricultural product production protection areas where the local governments are responsible for planning regional grain processing capacity and arranging local grain conversion. It will coordinate the promotion of grain primary processing, deep processing, and comprehensive utilization processing; increase the supply of high-quality and nutritious grain processing products, and give priority to food grain processing; encourage enterprises in major grain sales areas to establish grain source bases, processing bases, and storage and logistics facilities in major grain production areas; and support the construction of grain processing raw material bases, infrastructure, and logistics systems.
China will establish a grain emergency management system with unified leadership, hierarchical responsibility, and local management. Under this system, the State Council is responsible for formulating national grain emergency plans; provincial governments are responsible for formulating grain emergency plans for their administrative regions and approving grain emergency plans formulated by county governments; and the governments at or above the county level are responsible for building a grain emergency system, planning and managing grain emergency storage, transportation, processing, and supply networks, and establishing a grain emergency evacuation mechanism when necessary. Meanwhile, China will also establish a reporting system for abnormal fluctuations in the grain market. In the event of an emergency, governments at or above the county level must immediately report it, initiate emergency responses, and take emergency disposal measures including organizing grain processing, transportation and supply, requisition of food, storage facilities, sites, transportation, etc.
In terms of food conservation, China encourages and supports the promotion of practical technologies such as timely agricultural mechanical harvesting and drying at the production site; encourages food operators to use advanced and efficient facilities and equipment to reduce grain losses and waste; and promotes the application of moderate grain processing technology to increase the output rate of finished grain. Governments at or above the county level are responsible for food conservation in food production, storage, circulation, processing, and consumption. Food producers are required to strengthen the protection of grain during their growth period and the management of production operations to reduce grain losses and waste in the stages of sowing, field management, and harvesting.
In conclusion, the Law stipulates the most basic principles and regulations on grain. The refinement and implementation of relevant provisions need to refer to relevant specialized regulations including Land Administration Law, Seed Law, Regulation on the Administration of Grain Circulation, Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Law, Anti-food Waste Law, and Law on Flood Control. The implementation of these regulations must obey the GS Law. The GS Law is the basic and commanding upper-level law that connects them.