The Chinese central government recently unveiled a plan to preserve more than 306 million acres of arable land,  designated as permanent basic farmland. 

Fruit orchards or horticultural production facilities that are built on permanent basic farmland, destined for commodity crops, must be restored to grain production areas, a USDA report assessing the draft said. 

Furthermore, these areas will be primarily dedicated to grain production, and “must not be used for non-agricultural purposes under any circumstances.”

To stimulate farmers’ interest in planting grains, the Chinese government will expand existing support measures on price, subsidies, and insurance. Additionally, the government will continue to implement subsidies for farmland fertility preservation, corn and soybean producer subsidies, and rice-related subsidies. 

Agricultural machinery purchase and application subsidy policies will be optimized and the mechanism for ensuring supply and stable prices of agricultural inputs will be further improved, the USDA said.

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Accounts indicate that fruit orchards and greenhouses are already being reclaimed for grain production, the document also stated.

The draft plan, called “Measures for the Management of Red Lines for Protection of Permanent Basic Farmland”, was published Jan. 26 and was open for public comment through Feb. 26.

Additionally, the draft stated that all permanent basic farmland must be converted to high-standard farmland. 

This could mean that as China’s aging farmers retire and rural youth or others migrate to urban areas, the measures may result in greater farm consolidation which, sources expect, could lead to more efficient operations in major grain production provinces.

The plan is connected to efforts to ensure national food security under "The Law of the People’s Republic of China on Assuring Food Security," which passed on Dec. 29, 2023. The legislation hopes to achieve "absolute security" in staple grains for food use and basic self-sufficiency in all other grains. 

It requires national, regional, and county officials to “ensure that as much of China’s food supply as possible is produced and processed domestically.”