Vendors at the Yiwu International Trade Market in Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang Province on December 4, 2023 Photo: Li Hao/GT

Yiwu has clarified a notice issued by the local commerce bureau, which required local residents to keep grain stocks for more than ten days. An official said that it is part of the annual routine work, and there is no need for over-interpretation.

The announcement came after a widely discussed notice that was released recently, asking local residents to keep grain stores for more than ten days' consumption and no less than fifteen days for local government departments. It also mentioned the need to save grain and reduce waste. 

The notice quickly sparked wide-ranging discussion on the internet, with more than 41 million views and tens of thousands of interactions on Twitter-like social networking site weibo.com as of Monday, many of which expressed concern about the sudden announcement.

An official from the local commerce bureau on Monday afternoon clarified that the notice referred to an annual routine job that is widely adopted in other regions of Jinhua, East China’s Zhejiang Province.

There is nothing unusual about it and no need for over-interpretation, the official said, according to news outlet jinantimes.com.cn. 

The notice has since been deleted from the official WeChat account of the local commerce bureau of Yiwu, which is under the administration of Jinhua.

Local media outlets in Zhejiang Province published a report about saving grain, reducing grain waste and promoting socialized grain storage on December 16, 2022. It vowed to develop socialized grain storage, establish a food security system and promote high-quality development of Jinhua's grain industry. 

The week of October 16 is China's Food Security Week. Jinhua has a reputation for high annual grain production, at more than 500,000 tons. Currently, the city has grain reserves of 436,000 tons and average daily inventory of grain products of more than 40,000 tons, which can meet the local residents’ needs for 15 years, according to jinantimes.com.cn. 

As of November 12, China has nearly completed its autumn harvest as scheduled, harvesting more than 96 percent of the autumn grain crops so far, despite extreme weather in some regions, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Observers said that the figures indicate the timely progress of this year's autumn harvest, with some expecting an increase in grain output. This positive trend is seen as a favorable factor for ensuring the country's food security.