Farmers are drying grain in Huaian, Jiangsu Province on November 2, 2021. Photo: VCG

 
Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province decided to increase its soybean planting area to 10 million mu (666,667 hectares) in 2022 in a bid to fulfill the central government's plan to ramp up domestic soybean acreage and output, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The recent held National Rural Work Conference in Beijing called for efforts to adjust China's agricultural structure, such as expanding the planting acreage of soybeans and oilseeds in the country to bolster food security.

Heilongjiang Province is one of the country's major production and supply bases for high-quality soybeans, with the largest planting area and highest production capacity. The province has vowed to raise acreage of soybeans to 10 million mu in order to guarantee domestic supply of soybeans.

Experts noted that the country's continuous efforts to expand production of both soybeans and oilseeds by increasing planting areas and output will reduce traditional reliance on importsm while China has been diversifying the import sources of soybeans in order to ensure a stable supply.

The current selling price for soybeans in northeastern China increased from 2.7 yuan ($0.42) to 3 yuan per jin (500 grams), according to Xinhua, citing a local farmer in Heilongjiang.

In November 2021, China imported 8.57 million tons of soybeans, while total imports for the first 11 months of 2021 reached 87.65 million tons, official data showed.