It is imminent to solve the problem of food circulation from the total amount to the structural contradiction

[ China Agricultural Machinery Industry News ] It is an important focus of the implementation of the national food security strategy under the current economic normal state to firmly hold the rice bowl in its own hands and hold the bottom line of food security risks. Xu Ming, deputy director of the National Grain Bureau, recently revealed at the National Food Distribution Work Conference that while the output has increased substantially, China’s grain structural contradictions have become increasingly prominent, the food price formation mechanism is still not perfect, and the allocation of resource elements is distorted, “high inventory, high The "three highs" of import and high cost are under heavy pressure.

It is imminent to solve the problem of food circulation from the total amount to the structural contradiction

How to promote the “de-stocking” of food in an orderly manner, how to promote the reform of the grain storage system and the price formation mechanism with the supply-side structural reform as the main line, and it is urgent to break the problem in practice.

The "three highs" issue highlights the structural contradictions of food

As an important wheat producing area in the country, the total wheat output in Henan Province reached 69.32 billion jin in 2016, and a bumper harvest. However, behind the bumper harvests, grain growers and food processing companies are “two hairs”. Farmers worry that food prices are low and not easy to sell. Many flour processing companies find it difficult to buy high-gluten wheat that meets the requirements.

The dilemma of “selling hard to see hard to buy” in the wheat market highlights the structural contradictions facing China's current grain production.

"From the current point of view, the food security situation in our country is generally better, but it also faces new situations and new situations. The 'high yield, high inventory, high import' of food coexist, and some food varieties have a stage surplus. Insufficient supply of grain varieties. In the case of high stocks and oversupply in the international market, domestic food prices are under great pressure, and the contradiction between grain storage and storage is more prominent,” said Xu Shaoshi, director of the National Development and Reform Commission.

“In terms of varieties, the stage surplus of corn and rice is obvious, the supply of wheat varieties is insufficient, and the gap between soybean production and demand is huge. On the layout, food production is increasingly concentrated in the northern core production areas where the hydrothermal conditions are not superior to the northeast, 13 foods. The main producing areas account for more than 75% of the national grain output, and the pressure for food circulation and balance across regions is increasing.” Xu Ming pointed out that in terms of the relationship between production and benefits, high yield and low efficiency coexist, especially last year's grain production. Net income began to decline, and some business entities were already in a state of meager profit or even loss.

On the one hand, it is “high inventory” of food, on the other hand, it is “high import”, especially the import of soybeans and corn substitutes has increased significantly. In addition, due to the low level of modernization of circulation, China's grain circulation costs are high. It is very urgent to speed up the reform of grain circulation and effectively resolve the coexistence of the "three highs".

Promote the reform of grain storage system with the concept of marketization

Experts pointed out that the problem of China's grain "three highs" is at the top of the policy design, and the key way out is the supply-side structural reform.

"At present, the problems of domestic grain circulation, although there are periodic and aggregate factors, are rooted in the structural imbalance between supply and demand. Because the demand elasticity of food is very small, simply adopting the method of expanding demand does not work, and must continue to promote the supply side. Structural reform, to solve structural contradictions and solve problems through reforms." Xu Ming pointed out.

In 2016, China's corn storage and storage system reform began. The reform was to abolish the corn storage policy, and changed to “market pricing, price compensation separation” and implemented a new mechanism of “market-based acquisition” and “subsidy”. At present, the market is generally stable and the reforms have achieved remarkable results.

Xu Shaoshi said that the direction of market-oriented reform cannot be shaken. It is necessary to give full play to the decisive role of the market in resource allocation, and more to adopt market-based means to thoroughly study the reform of the mechanism of food price formation, grain circulation and storage and storage. Thereby guiding farmers to better adjust and optimize the planting structure, improve supply quality, expand effective supply, and form a more efficient and sustainable food security system.

"In the future, we should further promote the reform of grain prices and storage systems. This is the basis for the market to play a decisive role in the allocation of food resources." Xu Ming pointed out that it is necessary to explore the establishment of a "good price" grain circulation mechanism. To meet the increasing demand for COFCO oil consumption of urban and rural residents; high prices, so that grain farmers can increase their income through the market, so as to achieve the guarantee of “selling grain and selling food” and promoting “growing food to make money and food health".

Improve the grain market regulation system in the reform

With the deepening of the reform of the grain storage system, the main body of the grain market is increasingly diversified, and more grain sources will be transferred from the government's grain store to the hands of the social subjects and transferred to the market. The macroeconomic regulation and control of the grain urgently needs to gradually rely on direct regulation and control. Policy-led indirect regulation.

"In the face of new situations and new changes, we must firmly establish a bottom line awareness of food security, deepen the reform of grain circulation, and guarantee national food security in a higher quality, more efficient and sustainable way." Xu Ming said that reform must not only To improve the grain monitoring and early warning system, it is also necessary to improve the regulation mechanism of grain storage and handling, establish a market-based acquisition fund guarantee mechanism, and establish a grain transportation coordination mechanism.

In 2016, in the reform of the corn storage and storage system in the three provinces of Northeast China, the grain purchase loan credit guarantee fund was established respectively, which played a role in resolving the financing of multi-agent acquisition.

Experts suggest that in the future, based on this, we will explore a long-term mechanism for the formation of market-based acquisition funds, and explore various modes such as “food banks” such as food finance and food insurance to provide mechanism guarantee for the reform of grain storage and storage systems.

Background related

On January 23, China Customs announced the 2016 China food import data. In 2016, China imported 83.91 million tons of soybeans, setting a new record. Of course, the record imports of more than soybeans, as well as rice, in 2016 China imported 3,533,900 tons of rice, also got a "" . It is noteworthy that while China's corn imports have fallen sharply , imports of sorghum and barley have also fallen.

In the context of “destocking” , China’s total grain output in 2016 stopped growing at a rate of 612.24 million tons, down 0.8% from the previous year . It is still the second highest production year in history. At the same time of a large increase in production, the staged excess of corn and rice is obvious, the supply of wheat varieties is insufficient, and the gap in soybean production is huge. The food situation in China has changed from a lack of aggregate to a structural contradiction.

Looking back at the road of China's grain import in the past 20 years, China's food security situation is still not optimistic, and will face the challenge of rigid growth in demand and rigid production constraints. To solve China's food problems, we must adhere to the basic domestic self-sufficiency and appropriate import adjustments. Xu Shaoshi, director of the National Development and Reform Commission of China, has previously stressed that ensuring food security is a top priority. When you can't relax, more than 1.3 billion people, (food) is a little more. After you have less, you can't cry, you can't buy it. . This is not an exaggeration.