Employees from a grain purchasing enterprise unload rice into storage in Yongzhou city, Central China's Hunan Province on July 22, 2024. China had another bumper summer grain harvest in 2024, official data showed. The country's summer grain output totaled 149.78 million tons this year, up 2.5 percent year-on-year. Photo: VCG

China's top economic planner released a draft regulation on Wednesday to safeguard grain and oil storage and logistics facilities, amid efforts to safeguard the nation's food safety. 

No person or entity shall occupy, damage, dismantle or relocate any grain and oil storage and logistics facilities without proper authorization. It is also prohibited to change the function of these facilities or to put the safety of the facilities and the grain and oil stored therein at risk, according to the draft regulation issued by the National Development and Reform Commission. 

Grain and oil storage units must report their storage facilities to the administrative department within 30 working days after they are established or start their storage activities. The regulation also requires regular evaluation and maintenance of the storage and logistics facilities and mandates that these records be kept.

Activities that may threaten the safety of grain and oil storage and logistics facilities, as well as their storage, are prohibited in nearby areas. New sources of pollution and hazards are not allowed to be established within a safety distance.

"The production and circulation of food are major issues for any country. Food security is critically important for a populous nation, making it an exceptionally significant issue. Therefore, it is both necessary and urgent to implement regulations and requirements for various entities and business operators in these areas," said Cong Yi, a professor at the Tianjin School of Administration.

Chinese authorities have stepped up efforts to safeguard grain and oil storage and logistics facilities and stressed zero tolerance toward lawbreaking activities.

The office of the food safety commission under the State Council on August 25 issued an investigation report regarding the lawbreaking facts in reported cases of using tanker trucks for coal-to-liquids to transport edible oil.

It violated basic common sense, trampled on moral and legal boundaries, and was a typical example of illegal and criminal behavior that must be severely punished, according to the report.