The writer is an FT contributing editor and writes the Chartbook newsletter
For China food is more than food. In a media system that is shy about sex and forbidden to debate politics, what so often takes centre stage are images of laden tables, bubbling hotpots and chillies tumbling into fragrant oil. Food is the China dream made real.
Feeding China is not just a matter of symbolism, it is geoeconomics on a grand scale. First and foremost, China feeds itself. The country is home to the largest grain and meat production system in the world. But it is also true that since WTO accession in 2001, it has become increasingly import-dependent. In the early 2020s China was estimated to rely on imports for one-third of its food supply, resulting in an agricultural commodities trade deficit of $124bn last year.