It's been years of bumper crops for China, but that has not eased concerns over the need to grow enough every year to feed the people. The vice-minister of agriculture was speaking on the sidelines of this year's session of the National People's Congress where he stressed how vital it was to attain self-sufficiency on a sustained basis.

As of the end of 2009, grain production in China had grown for six consecutive years. For three straight years, it managed to keep harvests at above 500 billion kilograms. And despite inclement weather since last winter, the vice-minister of agriculture says he is still confident that yields will be good in 2010. But he also stressed how vital it was to make sure the harvest this year is no less than that reaped the year before.

Wei Chao’an, Vice-Minister, Ministry of Agriculture, said, "Despite good harvests over the past few years, there's been no fundamental change to the imbalance between grain supply and demand in China. It's estimated that 2010 will see national grain consumption top 500 billion kilograms. This puts a lot of pressure on this year's grain output."

Wei added that demand for grain rises between 4 and 5 billion kilograms every year. However, China has yet to set up long-term mechanism to ensure stable growth in supplies, while infrastructure still needs improvement. Wei Chaoan believes that it is essential for China to be self-sufficient and be able to rely solely on domestic production.

Wei said, "Self-sufficiency means domestic output hits above 95 percent of domestic demand. That is to say, annual production has to stand above 500 billion kilograms. This is the bottom line."

The vice minister also denied that his ministry had approved the import of genetically modified seeds. He said no such plants are being grown in the country.

Wei also promised to prevent further loss of arable land to urbanization across the country.

He noted that the employment situation has improved in rural areas in recent years. But he is also warning of challenges on the issue, saying imbalance between labor supply and demand in the countryside will persist in the short and medium terms.

(CCTV March 10, 2010)