Workers transport fertilizer at a railway station in Central China's Hunan Province on January 31, 2023 to prepare for the upcoming spring plowing period. China's State Council executive meeting on January 28 called for preparation work for spring plowing to lay a solid foundation for the nation's grain harvest. Photo: cnsphoto

China's food and energy security, important components of the country's national security, are sufficiently ensured despite growing global uncertainties and hidden factors, senior government officials said on Monday.

"China's grain market is maintaining its sound momentum of sufficient supply and stable operations," Zhao Chenxin, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, said at a press conference on Monday.

China recorded another bumper harvest in 2022, with grain output totaling about 686.53 billion kilograms, reaching a record high. This is the eighth consecutive year for China to register yearly grain harvest of over 650 billion kilograms, Zhao said.

He said that the authorities have been stepping up efforts in comprehensively improving the country's grain production capacity, as well as grain distribution and storage to shore up the country's food security.

Among all the measures, Zhao stressed that the country has launched a new drive to increase grain production by 50 billion kilograms, continues to promote the production of soybeans and other oil-bearing plants, implements seeds industry revitalization projects, and boosts core technological breakthroughs in agricultural sector.

At the same conference, Li Chunlin, another vice chairman of the NDRC, said that the country's energy security is basically guaranteed.

"Faced with tight international energy supply and price spikes, China has steadily boosted the establishment of the country's energy supply, storage and distribution system. As a result, the country's energy supply capability continues to improve, with imports increasingly diversified, storage capacity and market system continuously improved, amid intensifying low-carbon green transformation," he said.

Over recent years, China's self-supply rate of energy has been kept at more than 80 percent. In 2022, the country's crude oil output reached 205 million tons. The country's natural gas output stood at 220.1 billion cubic meters, exceeding 10 billion cubic meters for a consecutive of six years, NDRC data showed.

As of the end of last year, China's gross power generation capacity reached 2.56 billion kilowatt-hours (KWh), of which renewable green energy capacity exceeded 1.2 billion KWh, including newly-added installed capacity of wind and solar power exceeding 100 million KWh for a consecutive of three years, according to the NDRC.

However, seasonal energy supply crunches persist in some regions in the country, given the volatility of international energy market, and China's demand for energy will keep rising along with domestic economic recovery, Li said.

Li said the authorities will continue to ensure sufficient energy supply and stable price this year. He said the authorities will take a variety of measures to supervise and readjust coal prices to maintain stable electricity prices.