China facing big food supply shortfall: Official

Notwithstanding bumper harvests, China had a massive shortfall of upto 25 million tonnes in the amount of grain it produced and consumed in 2015, prompting record imports, a Chinese official said today.

China faces a problem as people's appetites grow, Chen Xiwen, director of the office of the central agricultural work leading team, said during an agricultural forum.

China's total grain output increased 2.4 percent year on year to 621 million tonnes in 2015, the 12th straight year of growth.

Still, authorities have had to look abroad to close the gap, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Food imports reached a record 120 million tonnes last year, with soybean accounting for over 70 per cent of the total.

Policymakers renewed their commitment to safeguarding food security during a top-level rural work conference at the end of 2015.

The government will secure supply of staples, protect farmland and maintain production capacity, they said.