Food self-sufficiency is China’s policy goal but Anna Czenthe with the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies points out why the facts on the ground make it an impossibility. China has built up large strategic reserves, including half the world’s wheat and two-thirds of the corn, for a reason. It is one of the most water scarce countries in the world and this year drought is shrinking the water supply even further. She notes that future food demand will require an additional 3-12 million hectares of farmland that China does not possess. Replacing imports would cause “resource depletion and massive losses in welfare and quality of life.” She correctly notes that China will remain highly...