China is the world's largest wheat producer and consumer, and for many
years it was the largest wheat importer too. All kinds of traditional Chinese
food made from wheat flour, such as noodles, dumplings, pastry and steamed bread,
are very popular.
1. Wheat Production
China's wheat production in 2002 was estimated at 90.29 mio t, about
16% of the total world production of 565.48 mio t. During the 1990s, favourable
weather helped China produce bumper wheat crops, with 1997 production topping
123 mio t. Over the past five years, production averaged 101.5 mio t. From 1994
to 1998, the total grain planting area in China increased from 109.5 mio
hectares to 113.8 mio hectares. Since 1998, the total grain area has decreased
by around 9%, with only about 103.9 mio hectares seeded for grain in 2002. This
decrease is the result of rising urban and industrial development and a trend
toward growing other crops such as oilseeds, cotton, fruits and vegetables. The
wheat planting area has declined by 22% over the past 10 years due to adverse
weather and huge stocks, combined with government policies to discourage
growing low quality wheat. China's wheat area is expected to drop below 1.24
mio hectares in 2003, resulting in an estimated production of about 87 mio t.
This represents a 3.6% drop from last year and a 14.3% drop from the five-year
average of 101.5 mio t (see Tab. 31 and Fig. 25).
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| Fig. 25: Wheat-seeded area and production in China (1990 - 2003) |
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Tab. 31: Grain and wheat-seeded area and production in China, 1990 -
2003 a
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Wheat can be seeded almost everywhere in China, and winter wheat
accounts for 84% of the total growing area. The regions for it are mainly
located to the south of the Great Wall, in the provinces of Henan, Shandong,
Hebei, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Anhui, Shannxi, Hubei and Shanxi. Another 16% of the
area for spring wheat seeding lies to the north of the Great Wall in Heilongjiang,
Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Ningxia and Qinhai.
2. Wheat Use
China's total domestic consumption of wheat averaged 108.5 mio t over
the past five years, with about 93 mio t used for human consumption and about 4
mio t used for feed. The remainder included waste and wheat used for industrial
purposes and seed. It is interesting to note that wheat for feed use has been
increasing steadily from 1.2 mio t in 1998/99 to 6.5 mio t in 2002/03, due to
the rapid development of the livestock industry and higher corn prices in the
last few years. Milling wheat consumption has decreased over the last few years,
from 95 mio t in 1998/99 to 90 mio t in 2002/03 (Tab. 32). Per capita
consumption has dropped from about 77 kg per year to 70 kg, the result of
increased health awareness and a rising per capita income, which have led to
more diversified diets among the population.
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Tab. 32: Wheat use in China 1998 - 2003a (June - May; 1,000 t)
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Throughout the 1980s and much of the 1990s, China imported large
quantities of wheat each year to meet rising consumption needs, the peak being 12.4
mio t in the calendar year 1991. Beginning in 1995, this figure began to fall
considerably, and less than 1.5 mio t were imported in 1998. Subsequent years
have seen further drops, with only 0.45 mio t imported in 1999 and 0.6 mio t
imported in 2002 (Tab. 33 and Fig. 26). These reductions can be attributed to bumper
wheat crops in the period 1992 - 1999 and high wheat imports in the first half
of the 1990s, which sent China's wheat stocks soaring to unprecedented levels. China
has been in a position to export some wheat for the past two years. In 2002,
China exported around 0.69 mio t to Southeast Asian countries and imported 0.6
mio t, which made China a net wheat exporter for the first time in history.
Poor harvests by major wheat exporters elsewhere in the world and price hikes contributed
to the unexpectedly sharp growth of exports. Moreover, China has exported around
1 mio t from January to August 2003, compared with imports of only 0.2 mio t
during the same period. Under the rules of the World Trade Organization, China
opens a global tariff-rate quota of 7.3 mio t of wheat, rising with annual increments
to 9.6 mio t by 2004.
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Fig. 26: Chinese wheat import data 1991 - 2004
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Tab. 33: Chinese wheat import and export data, 1991 - 2004a
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Although China has sound wheat production to meet domestic consumption,
it lacks highquality wheat for the needs of food processing due to unreasonable
quality structures, with less strong-gluten wheat suitable for bread and
weak-gluten wheat for cookies and pastry. More and more emphasis is being
placed on the quality of wheat production in China as the standard of living of
Chinese customers rises and the demand for higher-quality wheat products
increases. Furthermore, East and Southeast Asian countries have a large market for
the high-quality wheat exported from China each year.
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Tab. 34: Chinese high quality wheat seeded area and productiona
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Although the total wheat planting area and production have decreased
over the past few years, the area for high-quality wheat growing has risen
sharply to 6 mio hectares in 2001 from 1 mio hectares in 1996 (Tab. 34). However,
there are some problems with regard to quality, for example, the stability time
(Farinograph) and extension area (Extensograph) of dough average around 3 min
and 52 cm2 respectively, much less than the 12 min and 100 cm2 for foreign
dough. Large differences between regions, scattered growing, backward technology, lack of proper management etc. are the
reasons for the inferior quality of the wheat.
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Fig. 27: Chinese wheat planting zones
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To solve the existing problems, three wheat planting zones will be
established in China in the next few years. By the year 2007, China's planting
area for fine breeds of wheat will be 40% of the gross wheat planting area, up
20% over 2001. The three special wheat planting zones are being created in the
reaches of the Yellow, Huai and Hai rivers, along the lower reaches of the
Yangtze River and the Greater Khingan Mountain Range, in the provinces of Shandong,
Hebei, Jiangsu, Anhui and Heilongjiang (Fig. 27).
5. Wheat Standards
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Tab. 35: Chinese wheat classes
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Tab. 36: Grades of Chinese wheat
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China updated standards for wheat and formulated standards for
strong/weak gluten wheat in 1999, and standards for wheat flour and strong/weak
gluten wheat flour have existed since 1986 and 1988 respectively. There are 9
classes and 5 grades of wheat (Tab. 35 and Tab. 36). The wheat classes are subdivided
into 2 classes of high quality strong gluten wheat (Tab. 37), two classes of high
quality weak gluten wheat (Tab. 38) and 3 classes of wheat for specific
end-uses (Tab. 39).
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Tab. 37: High quality wheat – strong gluten wheat
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Tab. 38: High quality wheat - weak gluten wheat
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Tab. 39: Wheat classes for specific end-uses
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However, most experts suggest revising some of the tests in the
standards because of out-of-date data and practical procedures. China will
prepare new standards for the following three special wheat planting zones by
2007:
Standards for Strong Gluten
Hard White Wheat in the Regions of the Yellow, Huai and Hai Rivers Standards
for White Winter Wheat varieties and qualities, strong gluten Hard White Wheat,
middle gluten Hard White Wheat and processing regulations for strong gluten
Hard White Wheat in North China and north of the reaches of the Yellow and Huai
rivers will be drawn up according to local wheat varieties and qualities and
the demands of wheat processors.
Standards for Weak Gluten
Soft Wheat along the Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River Standards for
White/Red Winter Soft Wheat varieties and qualities, Soft White/Red Wheat and
processing regulations for weak gluten Soft White/Red Wheat on the banks of the
Jiangsu and the regions of Hubei, Henan and Anhui will be drawn up according to
local wheat varieties and qualities and the different requirements of cookies,
pastry and Chinese steamed food.
Standards for Strong Gluten
Hard Red Spring Wheat along the Greater Khingan Mountain Range Standards
for Hard Red Spring Wheat varieties and qualities, Hard Red Spring Wheat and processing
regulations for Hard Red Spring Wheat in northeast China will be drawn up according
to Canadian and U.S. standards for Hard Red Spring wheat.
6. Wheat Flour
At present about 10% of the wheat flour in China is high-quality
special flour for making bread, cookies and dumplings; 50% is used for steamed
bread, noodles and instant noodles, and the remaining 40% is poor quality flour
consumed in towns and villages. The use of special flour will increase in the
next few years as a result of the improving standard of living and different
demands for foods and diets. With the rapid development of the milling industry
in China, the wheat processors with a capacity of over 50 t per day have now
reached around 9,800 in number, 80 of which can mill 400 t of wheat per day; a
further 500 can mill 200 - 400 t per day. China's annual milling capacity has
reached 350 mio t, much more than the demand of 110 mio t of wheat. The wheat
milling industry in China will therefore become more competitive in the near
future.
7. Wheat Flour Standards
Wheat flour is divided into four main classes (Tab. 40). Furthermore,
there are two grades each for high-gluten and low-gluten flour (Tab. 41 and
Tab. 42). This system is complemented by flour standards for bread, noodles, dumplings,
steamed bread, fermented cookies, crisp cookies, cakes and pastry (not shown).
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Tab. 40: Chinese wheat flour classes
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Tab. 41: Grading system for high-gluten flour
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Tab. 42: Grading system for low-gluten flour
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