Opinion | China seeks to cultivate a food supply immune to geopolitical shocks

A single policy could redraw global food supply lines and scramble markets from the Americas to Southeast Asia.

In early February, the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee and State Council released the annual “No 1 document”, the country’s first policy statement of 2026 and its blueprint for agriculture, farmers and rural areas. As one of the world’s largest agricultural producers, importers and exporters, any shift in Beijing’s food strategy carries global repercussions.

Covering grain, vegetables, livestock and fisheries, this document calls for stable, higher-quality and more efficient output while linking domestic production to trade. It emphasises expanding high-standard farmland, strengthening disaster resilience, accelerating agricultural science and technology innovation, including biotechnology, stabilising output and addressing labour shortages.

Crucially, the plan signals a strategic shift towards food import diversification, reflecting Beijing’s concerns about over-reliance on any single country or region for imports. The policy elevates national security, technological self-reliance and agricultural resilience as central objectives.