Grain Promotion and Food Consumption: Analysis of Chinese Provincial Data

China has long struggled to achieve food security. In the era of a planned economy, local self-sufficiency was dictated by policy. With China's transition to a market economy, however, different policy schemes have been utilized, with greater emphasis placed on the role of market forces, especially in conjunction with China's accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001. Nevertheless, self-sufficiency in grain production remains a deeply rooted goal, and interventionist measures geared towards its achievement are still viewed as the most direct and effective means of food security. This paper examines how the well-being of China's rural population, proxied by measures of food consumption, is affected by the promotion of grain production. Our findings suggest that targeted households bear a disproportionate burden of food security policy, as it is currently implemented.