MNI China Press Digest Mar 25: Inflation, Food Supply, Sino-US

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Friday:

• The yuan should be allowed to gain appropriately given that China’s inflation is more stable while other major economies grapple with high inflation and the consequent recession, the 21st Century Business Herald said in an editorial. China can maintain self-sufficiency in agricultural products including grain and fertilizer, although it needs imports of cooking oil and animal feed, it said. China may however be pressured by a global recession, so it should actively improve income distribution and promote the “inner circulation” of its domestic economy, it said.
• Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told officials the country must ensure stable grain output this year in the face of the complex situation and surging inflation globally, Xinhua News Agency said. China has sufficient stockpiles of grain and key agricultural products and supply is ensured, Li said. The government should help businesses deal with rising prices of fertilizer, pesticide and diesel, and it should help companies increase production potential and diversify import sources for some products, Li said.
• Any attempt by the U.S. to prevent China from accessing high-tech products or technology will only result in new disruption to global industrial chains, hurting the interests of companies in the U.S. and the world as well, the Global Times said in an editorial. Intimidating China with economic consequences won’t change China’s stance toward the situation in Ukraine, the newspaper said. Since the U.S. cut Chinese high-tech companies off chip supplies, China has firmly pushed forward with its own development of semiconductor technology, it said.