Excess grain sows seeds of unrest

China must take resolute measures to restrict large-scale grain and cotton imports and crack down on smuggling activities to ease the pressure on the country's record-high grain inventory rate, the head of China's agricultural policy bank said.

Zheng Hui, president of the Agricultural Development Bank of China and a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, said China's high growth rate of grain yield and minimum grain purchase price mechanism have pushed the government to seek more space to store domestic grain and cotton.

The inventory amount overseen and supported by ADBC's loans for grain, cotton and edible oil-processing enterprises rose by 35 million metric tons from 2000, the last peak year for excessive grain reserves, to this year. It holds 88 percent of China's total inventory for agricultural products.