Structural adjustment in agriculture
China sped up structural adjustment in agriculture last year to reduce excess stockpiles of some products, while increasing the supply of other items that still heavily relied on imports, particularly high quality products.
One of the pressing issues in China's agricultural sector is addressing breed imbalances, as corn supply exceeds demand and imports of soybeans, cotton, oil plants and sugar crops grow on yearly basis
"The key to structural reform is to follow market demand and produce the agricultural products that are good for sale," Chinese Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu said at meeting in December 2016.
China reduced the growing area of corn by two million hectares last year and plans to further reduce it by 666,000 hectares in 2017, said Han.
In the meantime, the country increased the cultivation area of soybeans by more than 600,000 hectares.
Efforts were also made to adjust the structure of livestock and fishing industries, with emphasis on the improvement of food quality.
China's top 20 dairy enterprises held a summit last August amid efforts to boost the competitiveness of domestic dairy products and revitalize the industry, whose reputation was severely damaged by a poisonous milk powder scandal in 2008.
