China ends 2015 with overflowing grain reserves of 500mn tons

China had a record 500 million metric tons of grain reserves as of the end of 2015, Dim Sums reported, citing estimates by top rural policy advisor Chen Xiwen. Ren Zhenxiao, director of the national grain bureau, acknowledged that the level was “unreasonable,” that southern rice storage capacity had already been reached, corn inventories in China’s northeastern breadbasket provinces remained high and that the country was suffering from a clear surplus of both crops. Ren said China’s grain purchasing and storage programs would face “unprecedented conflicts” in 2016. For more on how China’s troubled grain subsidy system led to this impasse, read CER’s in-depth report.