China will prioritise safeguarding national food security and continue to pursue the sustainable development of agriculture, Chinese leaders have said after a four-day central economic conference on Friday.

“A national food security strategy based on domestic supply and moderate imports will be followed. It will ensure production capacity and endorse science and technology,” a statement issued after the meet said.

China accounts for a fifth of the world’s population, but with less than 9 percent of its land arable, Chinese leaders have aimed to boost agriculture technology to ensure food supply.

The Central Economic Work Conference reviewed the country’s economic work in 2013 and mapped out plans for 2014. A closed-door meeting on Friday was chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“China will focus on both quality and quantity of agricultural products, food safety, supervision of the production source and the whole sales process,” said the statement.

The Chinese central government in October allocated 600 million yuan ($97.88 million) to boost food security for its nearly 1.4 billion people.

The statement also said on Friday said China will “continue to follow a sustainable development path of agriculture and develop water-saving agriculture”.

In July this year, Chinese President Xi Jinping said during a tour of rural areas in central China’s Hubei province that “the country’s food security issue could only be solved by the country itself”, indicating that China should not rely on imports for its food supply.

Food security is a major area of alignment for the five nations that constitute BRICS. The bloc has a combined population of almost three billion.

Agriculture Ministers from the BRICS had met in October this year to discuss ways to meet food security challenges jointly.

thebricspost.com