World Food Security And China's Strategic Choice

Food security is an important part of a nation' s security system. Every country or region pays close attention to its food security. "People regard food as their prime want" , food has always had an irreplaceably basal status in the whole national economy. However, in today, food is not only a consumable, but an exchangeable and controllable strategic goods. Therefore, food security has significant influence to economic growth, social development and political balance.The food security question had been presented between 1972 and 1974; meanwhile, the most serious food crisis had happened after the World war II. According to FAO, food security had been defined as "Ensuring anyone can get enough foodstuff for the need of survival and health whenever. " International society is accustomed to view food storage as the standard to weigh the extend of world food security, and to act the percentage from carry forward amount of world food storage of FAO divides next year' s food consumption as "world food security coefficient" , which make 17-18% as security critical point, that is to say storable food can accommodate for the need of consumption above two months, so as to join to the next year' s production and supply. And yet, ' in the present, world food storage is approximate to the brim of insecurity. The information of the decline of world food storage has aggravated people' s worry to the rise of world food crisis. Behind the half past year of 2007, because some main food productive country suffered from serious nature disaster, in addition to the shock of dollar' s depreciation, world food price went up quickly, the question of world food security is being appeared in the people' s agenda again.In my paper, the feature and innovation are that to analyze the question about world food security not only from the angle of agriculture but also international relations, just for food security is not an agricultural issue only, it is an national strategic issue as well. Because food is not only being existed as food but as a strategic commodity, food strategy is an important part of national strategy. Either food strategy is right or wrong, it will affect the relation between supply and need of national food, relate to national stability for a long period and concern to the realization of state strategic interests and ruling right (that is hegemony) in modern international system.The article surrounds the five factors impacting world food security tightly, on the basis of analyzing contending argument about whether China' s food is secure, and suggests strategic choice concerning to insure China' s food security, attempts to offer advices effectively. I look forward to China' s food strategy is more profit to realize national strategic interests in China, and either embodies domestic fundamental situation or merges to international society.