China plans to provide 300,000 tonnes of rice to East Asias emergency rice reserve, the Xinhua news agency said late on Saturday, strengthening a project designed to ensure supplies to Asias poorest countries.
China had planned to announce the move, along with investment funds and other measures, at an ASEAN summit in Thailand this weekend, which was cancelled after protestors stormed the conference venue. [ID:nPEK26544].
The contribution could take the reserve, which has been long discussed but has progressed slowly, closer to its intended 1.5 million tonnes. The scheme for establishing an emergency rice reserve was originally put forward by ASEAN in 1979, but for years the stockpile stood at a thin 87,000 tonnes. The model originally included only earmarked stocks, but shifted this decade to comprise physical stocks of rice held around the region.
In 2006, ASEAN merged its share into an expanded East Asia emergency rice reserve, to which Japan contributed 250,000 tonnes. The goal at the time was to expand the reserve to at least 1.5 million tonnes.
The question of food security, particularly for rice, the staple for food for billions of Asians, took on greater urgency as food prices rose in 2007 and the first half of 2008. China, the worlds largest rice producer and consumer, usually maintains balanced trade in rice. In 2008, its rice exports exceeded imports by nearly 600,000 tonnes.