Grain circulation must proactively adapt to the new normal and achieve new development
After China's economic development entered the new normal, as an important component of safeguarding national food security and advancing agricultural modernization, in what aspects is the new normal in the field of grain circulation reflected? What new trends has grain circulation development shown? In the face of the new normal, how can grain departments proactively adapt and persist in development? On the 8th, at the National Grain Circulation Work Conference, a reporter interviewed Ren Zhengxiao, Director of the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration.
Grain market operation shows new features of internal-external integration and intertwined contradictions
“Against the backdrop of the accelerated advancement of the strategic adjustment of China's economic structure and the ever-deepening globalization of grain trade and marketization of grain purchasing and selling, various contradictions in the domestic grain market have intertwined and accumulated.” In Ren Zhengxiao's view, the impact of the macroeconomic situation on the grain market, especially on grain consumption demand, has deepened significantly.
Ren Zhengxiao analyzed that, constrained by resources and the environment such as arable land and fresh water, the difficulty of achieving consecutive grain production increases is growing. With population growth, upgrading of consumption structure, and acceleration of urbanization, grain demand will continue to grow rigidly. On the other hand, domestic grain production has had consecutive years of bumper harvests, and the “three highs” of high grain output, high purchase volume, and high inventory have叠加, making prominent the contradiction between a tight balance in total grain supply and demand and stage-specific oversupply of some varieties.
At the same time, under the double squeeze of the “ceiling” of grain prices and the “floor” of production costs, the space for protecting farmers' enthusiasm for growing grain simply by relying on open-ended purchasing and raising the minimum purchase price is becoming smaller and smaller, and the current grain purchase and storage policy system faces unprecedented challenges and tests.
“The contradiction between appropriately utilizing international grain resources and imported grain impacting the domestic market has also gradually emerged.” Ren Zhengxiao said, “Strong rice, weak milled rice” has lasted for a long time, and the rice processing industry is operating with difficulties. In addition, China's grain production and inventory distribution show a trend of concentration in core production areas, the purchase and storage pressure in main production areas is enormous, and policy-based grain inventory has been “snowballing” for consecutive years, increasing the fiscal burden.
To adapt to the new normal, the grain industry must take the path of reform, transformation, and innovative development
“As China's economic development enters the new normal, grain production and consumption are undergoing profound changes.” Ren Zhengxiao stated that this has had a profound impact on the grain industry's business philosophy, development methods, management models, and other aspects, and has put forward new requirements.
How can we innovate grain purchasing models and business methods, expand business space, and achieve quality improvement and efficiency enhancement? How can we effectively use international grain resources and scientific and technological achievements so that grain enterprises and the grain industry can win the initiative in participating in international market competition and achieve industry revitalization under the new normal? Ren Zhengxiao believes that these are important issues that China's grain industry urgently needs to solve.
Ren Zhengxiao said that at present, the dietary structure of Chinese residents has shifted from a quantity-based subsistence type to a quality- and nutrition-oriented type. How to adapt to changes in grain consumer groups and consumption patterns and meet market consumption demand is also a major challenge that the grain industry must face.
“In the face of challenges, to proactively adapt to the new normal, the grain industry must take the path of reform, transformation, and innovative development.” Ren Zhengxiao said that grain departments must thoroughly change the traditional business approach of “sitting and waiting to collect grain, sitting in shops to sell grain” and open up new paths for industry development. They should proactively integrate into new types of agricultural operation systems and form business consortiums and communities of shared interests with grain-growing farmers, especially family farms and farmer cooperatives, and in the process of serving agriculture, rural areas, and farmers, win new opportunities for industry development.
At the same time, they must also actively innovate business formats, extend industrial chains, and enhance market competitiveness. They should broaden their international vision and demonstrate new achievements in adapting to the integration of international and domestic markets.
“Grasp purchasing, ensure supply, manage inventory” to maintain grain market stability
In 2015, how can the interests of grain-growing farmers be protected and grain market stability maintained? Ren Zhengxiao stated that, with the full implementation of the provincial governor responsibility system for food security as the core, food security safeguard capabilities must be further enhanced, and grain purchase and storage work must be placed in a more prominent position and grasped firmly and well.
Ren Zhengxiao disclosed that further measures will be taken, including building and expanding warehouses, promoting sales to reduce inventory, cross-provincial inventory transfers, and vacating and merging warehouses, to encourage and guide various market entities to actively participate in grain purchase and storage, and to do everything possible to improve grain purchase and storage capacity. At the same time, purchasing and storage enterprises will be urged to strictly implement quality and price standards and purchasing rules, resolutely prevent farmers from experiencing “difficulty in selling grain,” and never allow “IOUs” to be issued to grain-selling farmers.
In response to new situations such as the large total grain inventory, much open-air grain storage, and diversified storage points, Ren Zhengxiao said that emphasis must be placed on inventory grain supervision, especially strengthening supervision of policy-based grain inventory, and effectively holding the supervision bottom line of “authentic quantity, good quality, and safe storage.” Illegal and irregular acts such as arbitrage in violation of regulations, harming farmers' interests, and damaging national interests must be severely investigated and punished.
Ren Zhengxiao also disclosed that this year the scope and scale of the special project for scientific grain storage by rural households will be further expanded, and the establishment of a grain quality traceability system will be accelerated; the disclosure and transparency of business links such as reserve grain purchasing, sales, and rotation will be promoted; grain legal system construction will be strengthened, the “Grain Security Project” will be fully implemented, and the modernization of grain circulation capacity will be accelerated; qualified grain enterprises will be actively guided and supported to “go global,” striving to build a new pattern in which multiple entities jointly safeguard national food security.