China's nutrition supply continues to improve in 2022: report

BEIJING, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Nutrition supply in China continued to improve in 2022, according to the China Food and Nutrition Development Report 2023, which was released on Monday.

It said that China's food production and nutrition supply had three main characteristics in 2022: a steady rise in food production, decreased imports of major foods, and continuous improvement in the country's nutrition supply.

The report also included a quantitative assessment of China's food loss and waste at multiple levels.

China's food loss and waste rate was approximately 22.7 percent in 2022, per the report, with the amount of food lost or wasted capable of meeting the nutrition needs of 190 million people for one year and translating into an economic loss of up to 1.88 trillion yuan (about 260 billion U.S. dollars).

The report suggested the country should rely on sci-tech innovation to reduce losses throughout the industrial chain -- from farms to dining tables -- and use legal and financial means to reduce food waste.

The document was released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs' Institute of Food and Nutrition Development at the China Food and Nutrition Innovation and Development Forum, which was held on Monday.

The forum was organized by the State Food and Nutrition Consultant Committee and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS). Over 300 participants exchanged ideas in the field of food and nutrition, and nearly 200,000 people watched the meeting online in real time.

At the forum, CAAS Vice President Ye Yujiang said that CAAS will work closely with domestic and foreign organizations to accelerate the development of basic research, applied research, the transformation of achievements and the industrialization of food and nutrition, aiming to provide stronger sci-tech support to promote the construction of a healthy China.