On Dec. 20 of 2007, China scrapped a 13 percent export tax rebate on major grains, including wheat, corn and soybean as well as their flour products.

Then as of Jan. 1 this year, the country decided to levy export tax on wheat, corn, rice, soybean and relevant processed products. The export tax rates ranged from five to 25 percent and would be effective for the whole year.

These measures have partly paid off. According to figures released by the General Administration of Customs, China exported 1.16 million tons of grain in the first five months, down 77 percent over the same period of last year.

Commenting on the current situation of global food security, Li said international grain prices had been rising rapidly and global food security was faced with serious challenges.

Li said the jump in international grain prices was attributed to such factors as the rise of living costs owing to soaring oil prices, rapid development of biofuel and increasing demand for grain.

According to a World Bank report released on April 9, global wheat prices had soared 181 percent over the 36 months leading up to February 2008, and overall international food prices had risen by 83 percent.

Also in April, the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food, Jean Ziegler, said in Switzerland that biofuel policies implemented by the United States and the European Union were one of the main causes of the current worldwide food crisis.

According to Ziegler, the United States used a third of its corn crop last year to produce biofuels while the EU was planning to create biofuels to supply 10 percent of its energy demand.

Ziegler also warned of worsening food riots and an increase of deaths by starvation as the current world food crisis continued.

(Xinhua News Agency July 4, 2008)