“As the second biggest corn producer, China’s volume of corn imports or exports often causes great fluctuation of the international market. There is a transformation from the basic equilibrium of corn supply and demand to the demand surplus to supply,” said Jiang Jianhua, Director of the Chinese Association of Grain Sector.

 

However, China is making significant efforts to implement policies that are favorable to farmers, hoping to give them initiative to grow corn, according to relevant experts. At present, the sown area of corn is continuously increasing and the output keeps growing every year. However, the consumption of corn used for breeding has also increased steadily. But with the government reducing its subsidies to the intensive processing of grains, the growth of the sector’s demand for corn will be restricted to a small margin.

 

China’s corn output during 2007-2008 is expected to be 149 million tons, the domestic consumption 145 million tons, and the surplus 4 million tons, based on forecasting from the China Grain and Cooking Oil Information Center.

 

(China.org.cn by Yang Xi, September 25, 2007)