【英语财经】中国拟让市场来决定国内粮食价格 China to drop domestic grain price support

China’s policymakers have confirmed that the government will let domestic grain prices be decided by the market, with the state’s price support no longer playing a role.

The Chinese government’s support of agricultural crops, especially corn, has led to large build-up of inventories and the decision by Beijing to abandon the policy has been widely expected, although the timing of the actual implementation is still unclear.

Chen Xiwen, deputy director of the Communist party’s Central Rural Work Leading Group, is involved in setting China’s rural and agricultural policies and said that “the market should decide on the price”.

“The price will be decided by the market and will no longer play the role of subsidising farmers,” he said, according to the People’s Daily, the Communist party newspaper.

Beijing’s purchasing price, which is higher than the market price, has encouraged domestic production and at the same time spurred a sharp increase in imports as food and feed producers turned to cheaper overseas alternatives.

According to forecasts from the US Department of Agriculture, corn stocks in China at the end of the 2015/16 crop year are expected to be 113m tonnes, more than half of global inventories.

China’s government support policy and depressed international corn prices due to abundant supplies around the world have meant that Chinese corn prices are more than double those of Chicago.

Dalian corn prices for March are at Rmb1,947 a tonne — the equivalent of $7.5 a bushel — compared with CBOT March corn which is trading at $3.69 a bushel.

Inflated Chinese support prices have also driven up imports of alternative feed ingredients, including barley and sorghum. The removal of government subsidies is aimed at reducing this demand

Arthur Marshall, analyst at AHDB Market Intelligence, said that market-driven lower domestic corn prices would reduce the incentive to import alternatives.

However, removing corn support prices “could also affect the incentive to plant” corn in China, which could reduce domestic supplies in the longer term, he added.

Additional reporting by Luna Lin

中国政策制定者证实，中国政府将让市场来决定国内粮食价格，不再提供价格补贴。

中国政府对农作物、尤其是玉米的价格补贴，导致了库存大量积压。外界一直普遍预计北京方面将做出放弃这一政策的决定，尽管具体执行时间仍是个未知数。

中共中央农村工作领导小组副组长陈锡文参与制定了中国的农村和农业政策。他表示，“基本方向就是市场定价”。

据中共机关报《人民日报》报道，陈锡文说，“价格要由市场来决定，价格不再承担补贴农民的功能。”

中国政府高于市场的收购价，推动了国内产量增加，同时也刺激进口大增，因为粮食和饲料生产商转向海外更便宜的原料。

根据美国农业部(DoA)的预测，到2015-16作物年度末时，中国的玉米库存预计会达到1.13亿吨，占全球库存量的一半还多。

中国政府实施补贴政策，同时，全球供应过剩导致国际玉米价格低迷，这使得中国玉米价格是芝加哥的两倍以上。

大连商品交易所的3月玉米期货合约价格为每吨1947元人民币，相当于每蒲式耳7.5美元，而芝加哥期货交易所(CBOT)的3月玉米期货合约价格为每蒲式耳3.69美元。

中国过高的补贴价格也促进了替代性饲料原料（包括大麦和高粱）的进口。取消政府补贴的目的在于减小这一需求。

AHDB Market Intelligence的分析师亚瑟?马歇尔(Arthur Marshall)表示，市场决定的较低国内玉米价格将降低进口替代原料的动力。

然而，他补充称，取消玉米价格补贴“可能也会影响中国国内种植玉米的积极性”，这长期而言可能会减少国内供应量。

Luna Lin补充报道

译者/何黎