China’s food and energy security would not be compromised if the country were to halt purchases of grain and fuel from the United States, a senior Chinese economic official has stressed, as an intensifying trade war threatens to disrupt flows of goods between the world’s two largest economies.
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“The Chinese people’s rice bowl is firmly held in their own hands,” said Zhao Chenxin, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, at a press conference on Monday.
China is fully capable of ensuring basic self-sufficiency in grain and a stable energy supply, Zhao said, as Beijing reasserted its ability to withstand a confrontation with the US that has seen both sides raise tariffs on each other’s imports by more than 120 percentage points in recent weeks.
Agriproducts and fuel were among America’s largest exports to China before the tariff war effectively brought trade to a standstill, along with hi-tech products such as semiconductors and aircraft.
But China has diversified its food and energy imports in recent years to reduce its dependence on the US, making the country less vulnerable to a freeze in American imports.
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In 2024, imports of sorghum, corn and soybeans from the US only accounted for a “small share” of China’s total grain consumption, and most of those imports were for use in animal feed rather than the food industry, Zhao said.
“These products are highly replaceable and the international market has abundant supplies,” Zhao said. “Besides, China has sufficient grain reserves.