China, with a population of 1.4 billion, sees food security as its most crucial issue. Consequently, every year, the country’s No. 1 Document, the central government’s annual policy statement, gives much attention on agriculture and rural issues. For nine consecutive years, China maintained a stable grain production exceeding 650 million tonnes. In 2024, the total grain output reached a historic 700 million tonnes, primarily driven by increases in wheat, rice, and corn. Currently, supply and demand are balanced, with a high degree of self-sufficiency. However, the term “self-sufficiency” represents a minimum standard and does not equate to meeting full domestic demand. In practice, “demand” has a more realistic, nuanced sense in food security.
From a national perspective, China is experiencing its most secure period in food production. The strategy of grain storage bolsters food security, yet structural shortcomings persist in the agricultural supply system. While the country is largely self-sufficient in staple grains, many other agricultural products, including meat, vegetables, and certain grains, still depend on imports to meet domestic needs.
According to data from the General Administration of Customs of China, in 2024, China’s total grain imports amounted to 157.53 million tonnes, a 2.3% decline from the previous year. This still marks the third-highest level of grain imports in history, following 2021 and 2023 when imports exceeded 160 million tonnes. The most notable declines were in the imports of staple grains: wheat imports fell by 8% to 11.18 million tonnes, rice imports dropped by 37% to 1.625 million tonnes, and corn imports decreased by 49% to 13.76 million tonnes. With domestic production of these three staples rising, the self-sufficiency rates for wheat (92.8%), rice (99.2%), and corn (95.5%) have all surpassed 90%, indicating strong domestic production.
However, for grains such as barley and sorghum, China remains heavily dependent on imports. In 2024, barley imports reached a record 14.24 million tonnes, up 25.8% from the previous year. Sorghum imports also surged by 66%, totaling 8.66 million tonnes. These grains’ self-sufficiency rates are low—just 17.6% for barley and 18.8% for sorghum—indicating an over 80% reliance on imports.
Beyond grains, China also faces significant self-sufficiency gaps in products like dairy, cotton, sugar, oilseeds, and meat. However, self-sufficiency in dairy (70%), cotton (70%), and sugar (70%) is relatively high. In 2024, China’s domestic production of dairy, cotton, and sugar reached 29.6 million tonnes, 6.16 million tonnes, and 11 million tonnes, respectively, while imports amounted to 2.62 million tonnes of each, reflecting a 30% dependency on imports.
Among the imported agricultural products, oilseed crops represent one of the largest gaps. Oilseed crops, primarily soybeans, have the highest level of external dependence. China is the largest importer of soybeans globally, accounting for more than 60% of the global soybean trade, and it also represents the largest share of total agricultural imports. In 2024, The country’s soybean imports totaled 105.03 million tonnes, a 6.5% increase year-on-year, accounting for 66% of total grain imports. The main sources of soybean imports were Brazil, with 74.65 million tonnes (71%), and the United States, with 22.13 million tonnes (21%). However, in 2024, China’s domestic soybean production was only 19 million tonnes, resulting in a self-sufficiency rate of just about 15.2%, indicating a foreign dependency of over 80%.
Aside from soybeans, the import volumes of other oilseeds have been declining. China primarily imports sunflower oil from Russia and Ukraine, rapeseed oil from Canada and the European Union, and palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia. In 2024, China imported 1.09 million tonnes of sunflower oil, a decrease of 28% compared to 1.52 million tonnes in 2023. The import volume of rapeseed oil was 1.88 million tonnes, down 20% from 2.36 million tonnes in 2023. Palm oil imports totaled 3.67 million tonnes, a decrease of 35% compared to 5.64 million tonnes in 2023. According to analysis, considering various factors, the external dependence on rapeseed oil (including both pure oil and rapeseed imports) is 40%, meaning the self-sufficiency rate is approximately 60%. As for palm oil, domestic consumption is almost entirely reliant on imports, resulting in an extremely low self-sufficiency rate. Sunflower oil also has a relatively low self-sufficiency rate due to low domestic production, with the market largely dependent on imports.
In 2024, China’s meat imports mainly included beef, pork, poultry, and lamb. The national beef production in 2024 reached 7.79 million tonnes, while the total imports were 2.87 million tonnes. As a result, the self-sufficiency rate for beef is about 73%, leaving a gap of nearly 27%. Furthermore, other data shows that in 2024, China imported 2.91 million tonnes of beef and beef offals, accounting for 43.6% of total meat imports, indicating that beef is one of the meat types that China is relatively dependent on for imports. On the other hand, the self-sufficiency rates for pork, poultry, and lamb are all above 90%, although there were still some imports. In 2024, China imported 2.28 million tonnes of pork and pork offals, 405,000 tonnes of poultry, and 366,000 tonnes of lamb.
In terms of fruits, China is a net importer of fruits. In 2024, China’s total fruit imports amounted to 7.6871 million tonnes, a 2.17% increase compared to the previous year. The total import value reached USD 17.746 billion, a 5.25% increase. Among these, high-end fruits like cherries are mainly imported from Chile and Japan. In 2024, China’s cherry imports reached 451,000 tonnes, a 23% increase year-on-year. Durian is primarily imported from Thailand and Malaysia, with China importing a total of 1.5603 million tonnes of durian in 2024, a 9.4% increase.
Despite being the world’s largest producer and consumer of vegetables, China faces significant external dependence on vegetable seeds. For certain specialty seeds, such as those for carrots, broccoli, and tomatoes, the import dependency exceeds 90%. However, China’s vegetable trade overall remains positive, with a trade surplus of USD 17.61 billion in 2024, as exports (USD 18.66 billion) outpace imports (USD 1.05 billion).
China has made notable strides in food security, achieving self-sufficiency in its three main staple grains—wheat, rice, and corn. Nonetheless, beyond these staples, the country remains heavily reliant on imports for products like sorghum, barley, soybeans, and vegetable seeds. This reliance highlights that, overall, China still depends on external sources to meet domestic agricultural demand. To further enhance agricultural self-sufficiency and bolster food security, increasing investment in agricultural technology, promoting product diversification, and expanding international trade are key strategies. However, the effectiveness of these measures remains uncertain, and the outlook is not entirely optimistic.
