China has 1.4 billion mouths to feed. How vulnerable is it to a global food crisis?

A surge in global agricultural prices has sparked fears of a global food crisis in recent weeks. But China’s limited reliance on staple grain imports and robust domestic reserves should cushion the blow of any external shocks, analysts said, though unpredictable weather, geopolitics and US-China trade tensions could still pose risks. The assessment comes as Beijing steps up efforts to diversify grain trade with other countries. On Saturday, China and Kazakhstan launched a grain trading platform in Changsha, Hunan province. The head of China’s National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration, Liu Huanxin, said the platform was crucial to ensuring regional…