China's cereals imports will not see a sharp rise in the future despite an increase in the first 10 months, an official today said.
Imports of cereals and flour from January to October jumped 46.3 per cent year-on-year, despite the country's grain yield this year increasing by 10. 3 billion jin (5.15 million tonnes) from 2013.
Ministry of Agriculture spokesman Bi Meijia said the figures did not represent a future trend, attributing the increase to lower international prices compared to domestic ones, and the need to meet diverse demand for grain.
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Currently, imported rice, wheat and corn accounted for only 2.4 per cent of the total.
"In the future, we might still need to import some kinds of grain that China is short of, but imports will not rise sharply," state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Bi as saying.
China will not over purchase cereals in the international market, because "the country's 260 million farmers who depend on agriculture and we have to take into account the relationship between imported grain and farmers' jobs and incomes," Bi said.
