China buys Indian rice for the first time in decades, raising questions over food supply
China has started importing rice from India for the first time in three decades, casting doubts on previous reassurances from Chinese officials that the country did not have a food shortage problem.
Beijing bought 100,000 tonnes of rice from India at US$300 per tonne this month, an industry official told Reuters.
“For the first time China has made rice purchases. They may increase buying next year after seeing the quality of Indian crop,” said B.V. Krishna Rao, president of the Rice Exporters Association.
China is the world’s biggest importer of rice, but has previously refrained from buying Indian rice, citing quality issues. India reportedly offered US$30 less per tonne than China’s traditional rice suppliers, Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam, according to Chinese financial news outlet FX168, quoting a Reuters report.
Indian farmers have recently taken to the streets to protest against the export of food to China at low prices, Indian media reported.
The breakthrough comes as bilateral tensions have worsened this year over a disputed border in the Himalayan region. In June, at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a clash with Chinese troops in the area, the first deadly skirmish in 45 years.
An insider who works in the crop trade business worried that the deal was a signal that China’s reliance on food imports were growing, and that it would push up prices for importing other food from southeast Asian countries. Si Ling, a finance scholar from Shandong University, said that the move showed that previous reassurances China had made about stable food production was a lie. Earlier this year, concerns arose about a possible food shortage due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and devastating floods in large parts of central and southern mainland China.
“China has no choice but to import rice on a large scale from India. This shows that rice, one of China’s most important strategic reserves, is now in the hands of India and Southeast Asian countries,” Si told Radio Free Asia’s Chinese news website.
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