BEIJING, CHINA — In an effort to enhance its grain security, China recently raised the minimum purchasing price for wheat in 2022, Reuters reported.

A notice on the state planner’s website said the National Development and Reform Commission has set the 2022 minimum purchase price for wheat at $357 per tonne, up from $351 per tonne this year.

China, the world’s leading wheat producer at 134 million tonnes in the 2020-21 marketing year, buys wheat from farmers at the minimum price when the market price drops below that level to incentivize domestic production.

Earlier this year, the China Agricultural Sector Development Report declared that the country will be almost entirely self-sufficient in staple grains such as rice and wheat by 2025.

Despite its large wheat output this past year, China still doubled its wheat imports in 2020-21 to 10.6 million tonnes, which ranked second only to Egypt, the perennial leader in that category. The Foreign Agricultural Service of the US Department of Agriculture is forecasting 10 million tonnes in wheat imports in 2021-22.

Meng Jinhui, senior analyst with Shengda Futures, told Reuters that “the state attaches utmost attention to grain security.”

“It does not have a big impact on the markets in the short term,” Meng added. “But the key is that it can serve as the guiding direction, and bolster farmers’ confidence in growing the grain.”