The Chinese People Must Hold Their Rice Bowls Firmly in Their Own Hands at All Times

Chinese People’s Rice Bowl

Yang Jianguo

China Financial amp; Economic Publishing House

January 2021

78.00 （CNY）

This book not only analyzes China's food security situation but also further develops the concept of food security. It forecasts and analyzes the prospects of China's food supply and demand， and innovatively proposes ideas for China's food security strategic adjustment. It breaks the one-way thinking mode of food， puts food security in the overall situation of national economic development for observation and analysis， and sorts out five special contradictions that restrict China’s future food security， namely： the contradiction between food security and optimal allocation of land resources; that between food security and the acceleration of industrialization; that between food security and the transformation of macro-control methods; that between food security and the deepening of international competition. This book analyzes the above contradictions layer by layer， forms a unique research perspective and style， pays attention to the combination of theory and practice， the qualitative and the quantitative， the dynamic and the static， and was econometric models and game methods for quantitative analysis.

Yang Jianguo is executive director and general manager of the Training Center of China Grain Resources Corporation， and also an expert in food securities.

In January 2021， the book Chinese People’s Rice Bowl， edited and published by China Financial and Economic Publishing House， received enthusiastic responses upon its release.

From its selected title and subject matter， Chinese People’s Rice Bowl sounds progressive and compelling， a timely analysis of our times. For more than three years， the author has carefully refined his first draft， consolidating its theoretical foundation and constantly verifying， updating， and perfecting the data with real-life sources. With scholarly rigor and keen professional insight， he offers a great analysis of China’s food security problem from ancient times to the present， giving the supply process from farm to table， observing domestic and international trends， deriving methods from strategies， and drawing a conclusion that puts theory into practice. Using strategic thinking， historical thinking， systems thinking， dialectical thinking， and bottom-line thinking， he considers food security from a global perspective and in the context of national economic development， combining his professional experience of more than thirty years with a unique research perspective and style， offering a new systematic thought on China’s food security. He not only analyzes the current food security situation in China and the world but also identifies five pairs of special contradictions that will limit China’s future food security， proposing a “five forces” model to resolve China’s food security problem. These “five forces” are resource support—food security and the optimal integrated allocation of land resources; agricultural productivity—food security and industrialization， with the “three rural issues” driving each other; reform and innovation—food security with coordinated market reforms; national control—food security and macro adjustments in support of each other; international competitiveness—food security and China’s international power of discourse equally enhanced.

In early 2020， the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 resulted in a global panic. Many governments imposed lockdowns， road and air route closures， and other emergency measures， resulting in incalculable economic losses. Global food security once again faces multiple threats and challenges. Faced with such a situation， the world and the Chinese society urgently need an objective， fair， rational， and professional voice to reveal the truth about food security， stabilize public confidence， and present China’s great contribution to global food security to the world—even under the dual pressure of COVID-19 and domestic floods， China is still in the best food security situation in its history. China is acting as a “ballast” in stabilizing the global food market and maintaining international food security. This is an important message conveyed by Chinese People’s Rice Bowl.

This book is different from previous works on food security： it has broken away from the traditional one-way thinking that “discusses food by analyzing food alone” and is as such innovative. In terms of research methodology， it systemically analyzes and scientifically combines theory and practice， the qualitative and the quantitative， the dynamic and the static， the micro and the macro. The constructive theories and policy ideas put forward in this book are pioneering.

So “how should the Chinese people hold their rice bowls firmly in their own hands？ And how should China deal with the risks and challenges brought about by the global food security crisis”？ Chinese People’s Rice Bowl provides answers to these important questions about the national economy and the people’s livelihood.

The author， as a planning editor， presented his manuscript to his unit， the China Financial and Economic Publishing House， and received great interest and attention from the upper management. The publishing house included the book in its essential projects of the year. A team of senior professional editors was formed to assist its publication in every aspect.

To their pleasant surprise， Yuan Longping， the late recipient of the “Medal of the Republic” and “Father of Hybrid Rice”， read the manuscript and wrote in November 2020： “Make every effort to ensure food security and safeguard Chinese people’s rice bowl.” This is undoubtedly a great affirmation of the content and value of Chinese People’s Rice Bowl.

The book is also recommended by several famous scholars and experts， including Gao Tiesheng， Song Zhiping， Wang Jie， and Cheng Guoqiang. The value of its content is thus evident.

Chinese People’s Rice Bowl consists of six parts and twenty-one chapters. The book offers in-depth analyses of food supply and demand in China， arguing that China’s agricultural development has entered a new stage， and proposes a new concept of food security and new ideas to ensure food security in a strategic transformation. One chapter， “Sustainable Land Use and Sustainable Food Development”， is devoted to the three most fundamental issues in China’s sustainable agricultural development — food security， agricultural modernization， and rural development. These three issues form the core research on China’s sustainable agricultural development strategy. The chapter analyzes food security in industrialization and urbanization and points out that there are still many constraints on food security to support the smooth progress of China’s industrialization and urbanization. It discusses three ways to improve agricultural productivity： first， intensive land use and intensive grain management; second， large-scale land use and industrialized grain management; and third， zonal land use and regionalized grain management. A special chapter is devoted to farmers’ income and food security： objectively speaking， ensuring food security and increasing farmers’ income are opposed and contradictory. To increase farmers’ income while achieving food security， reconciling and resolving their contradiction and opposition to achieve a win-win situation between the two is an urgent problem to be solved in this new stage of agricultural development. To solve the “three rural issues” in China’s industrialization and urbanization， the fundamental solution is to increase the farmers’ income. Increasing farmers’ income involves implementing overall economic development strategies， macroeconomic policies， and financial system reforms. The book proposes a synergistic approach to the relationship between food security and increasing farmers’ incomes. It reflects the supply-side structural reform goal of General Secretary Xi Jinping， which is to raise social productivity and implement a people-centered development ideology.

This book argues that fundamentally， China’s food security must be domestically based and internationally oriented. China’s food security must be grounded on self-reliance and the sustainable development of its own food production. At all times， Chinese People’s Rice Bowl can only be held in their own hands. The Chinese people are capable of feeding themselves. The proposal to establish a global grain and commodity futures market in China is both necessary for the developing times and an important step in maintaining China’s food security. This will help develop and improve China’s grain market system and promote grain marketization reforms.

Of particular interest is the book’s theory of the “five forces”， the first of its kind in the field. The “five forces” are the five key forces necessary for the strategic adjustments of China’s food security. In other words， one must grasp five key elements in the national economic development of food security and reconcile five pairs of contradictions. These “five forces” interact and affect one another， producing synergistic effects to achieve a win-win situation for food security and national economic and social development.

How do we practice with a theoretical foundation now in place？ The book offers clear solutions： by “going global” through the Belt and Road Initiative; actively participating in global grain futures trading to avoid international risks and enhance China’s power of discourse; nurturing “aircraft carrier” grain enterprises to improve micro-entities and their global competitiveness; increasing farmland productivity through the innovative application of technology （known as “hiding grain in technology”） to enhance the competitiveness of grain science and technology; implementing import and export diversification strategies to reduce the risk of international grain crises; optimizing the entire grain industry chain to achieve high-quality development; cultivating high-quality professional grain talents to stimulate international competitiveness; actively participating in the formulation of international food standards and trade rules to enhance the power of China’s food industry to speak in the international market.

After reviewing and summarizing the content of the book， we can clearly understand that under the leadership of the Communist Party of China in the 70 years since the founding of New China， China has not only solved the problem of feeding nearly 1.4 billion people but also significantly improved the quality of life and nutrition of its people. It has made great strides in food security， attracting the world’s attention. Grain production is high， and stocks are sufficient; both market supply and food prices are stable. There is a solid ability to ensure supply and enforce regulation. Taking into account the national and food conditions， the Chinese government has forged a food security path with Chinese characteristics， giving rise to successive years of rich harvests and abundant grain reserves. China is fully capable of guaranteeing its supply of grain and important agricultural products and ensuring domestic food security.

In terms of social influence， Chinese People’s Rice Bowl has drawn not only praise from experts and scholars in the field but also the attention of common people and students. At one time， it was the best-selling economic book on JD.com， receiving glowing reviews. During the launch and expert seminar held in May 2021， more than 30 experts and scholars expressed their opinions on the book， endorsing and supporting it in various aspects such as disciplinary construction， industrial innovation， enterprise development， social demand， and internationalization.

Chinese People’s Rice Bowl has been selected for the “National 14th Five-Year Publication Plan”. In 2022， a Russian version of the book will be published by the Science Publishing House of the Russian Academy of Sciences. An English version will be published by the American Cengage Group. Bulgarian， Thai， and Spanish versions will also be exported and published soon. Many seminars， expert forums， and classes have been held based around Chinese People’s Rice Bowl. Its social impact has been endorsed in many areas and will be felt even more intensely in the future.

（Author’s unit： China Financial and Economic Publishing House）