Farmers harvest early rice in Yongfeng, East China's Jiangxi Province on Tuesday. In the heat of the summer rush, farmers are busy harvesting 420,000 mu (28,000 hectares) of mature early rice to ensure that these summer grains are put into silos. China has set a grain harvest goal of 650 million metric tons and has achieved the target for six years in a row. Photo: VCG

South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, a large grain production hub in Southern China, rolled out various measures on Sunday to promote grain production expansion, with a million-yuan bonus being offered by the government.

For the regions that have been among the top grain producers in the province, a bonus of 2-5 million yuan ($316,200-790,500) bonus is on offer, while for those where grain was not the major business focus will also be given 1.5-3 million to promote grain production, according to a notice released by the provincial government on Sunday.

The financial support is centered on upgrading grain quality and quantity, introducing new categories and technologies, upgrading the production base and growing the footprint of arable land.

The notice came as the country ramps up efforts to ensure food security while reducing excessive reliance on imports, especially involving staple crops such as corn and soybeans, which are also among the main crops in Guangxi.

In 2021, China imported a total of 164.53 million tons of grain, an increase of 18 percent year-on-year, according to the latest data released by the General Administration of Customs. The volume was equivalent to 24 percent of the country's total grain production, a historic high.

A recent article published by the People's Daily stressed the importance of further securing adequate supplies of primary products, especially related to agricultural products, as China is still overly reliant on imports in certain areas.

Guangxi's total grain output hit 13.865 million tons in 2021, and this figure is expected to reach a milestone of 15 million tons by 2035, according to an agricultural development report for 2021-30 issued by the local government.