STORY: China's bumper summer harvest a key stabilizer to an inflation-plagued world
DATELINE: June 24, 2023
LENGTH: 00:03:15
LOCATION: Beijing
CATEGORY: AGRICULTURE

SHOTLIST:
1. various of harvesters
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): HE JINGMING, Grain Grower, Dongzhuang Village, Dongzhuang Town, Ningyang County, Shandong Province
3. various of harvesters
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): ZHA WENCHONG, Head of Jinfeng Agricultural Machinery Service Cooperative, Ningyang County, Shandong Province
5. various of harvesting
6. SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): LI ZHUJIE, Villager of Shangguo, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province
7. various of harvesting
8. SOUNDBITE 4 (Chinese): WANG YONG, Agricultural machinery operator
9. various of harvesting
10. SOUNDBITE 5 (Chinese): LI RUISHENG, Deputy Secretary and Mayor of Shangguo Township, Yanhu District, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province
11. various of measurement
12. SOUNDBITE 6 (Chinese): XU JUNMING, Director of the Agricultural Technology Promotion Station and Senior Agronomist, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province
13. various of harvesting
14. SOUNDBITE 7 (Chinese): ZHANG ZHONGJUN, Assistant Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in China
15. various of harvesting

STORYLINE:

This is a harvest scene in north China's Shanxi Province. Farmers can complete harvesting 40 hectares of wheat within hours with the help of harvesters.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China has harvested more than 20 million hectares of wheat as of June 21, and the large-scale harvest in the main wheat-producing areas has come to an end.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): HE JINGMING, Grain Grower, Dongzhuang Village, Dongzhuang Town, Ningyang County, Shandong Province
"It's so convenient to farm now. I can send a WeChat message or make a phone call, and the cooperative will directly dispatch harvesters to the field, which is time-saving, budget-friendly and highly efficient."

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): ZHA WENCHONG, Head of Jinfeng Agricultural Machinery Service Cooperative, Ningyang County, Shandong Province
"Our agricultural machinery cooperative gathers famers' requests for harvesters every day. Then we match them with the most suitable models of machines available from the nearest locations. We try to make full use of the machinery and leave no operators idle to ensure a successful harvest of summer crops."

In Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province, local authorities have spared no efforts to harvest as much wheat as possible before a predicted rainfall.

SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): LI ZHUJIE, Villager of Shangguo, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province
"I planted 10 mu (about 0.67 hectare) of wheat. The weather forecast said there would be rain. It made me sleepless. Then, the local government sent combine harvesters to help complete the harvest overnight, and now I feel relieved."

SOUNDBITE 4 (Chinese): WANG YONG, Agricultural machinery operator
"Staff in the cooperative work in two shifts. And I applied for the night shift."

SOUNDBITE 5 (Chinese): LI RUISHENG, Deputy Secretary and Mayor of Shangguo Township, Yanhu District, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province
"To ensure that the grain is fully harvested, we deployed more than 30 harvesters this year, working day and night to minimize losses for the farmers, and raced against time to harvest crops before they are ruined by rains."

SOUNDBITE 6 (Chinese): XU JUNMING, Director of the Agricultural Technology Promotion Station and Senior Agronomist, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province
"Last year, the city sowed 4.212 million mu  (about 280,800 hectares) of wheat. This year, according to statistics from the agricultural department, 4.39 million mu (about 292,667 hectares) of wheat has been sown. That's a remarkable increase of 170,000 mu (about 11,333 hectares). The total wheat production in the city is expected to grow by about 3 percent."

Summer grain accounts for one-fourth of China's grain production, providing a solid foundation for the country's food security throughout the year and injecting confidence into a world plagued by inflation.

The European Union's statistical office previously released data showing that the inflation rate in the eurozone reached 7 percent in April, while developing countries such as Türkiye and Argentina experienced the highest inflation rates in decades in 2022.

SOUNDBITE 7 (Chinese): ZHANG ZHONGJUN, Assistant Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in China
"Currently, the global food situation is still shrouded in uncertainty. As the world's largest producer and consumer of food, China's abundant summer grain harvest undoubtedly increases certainty. A bountiful grain harvest is of great significance in stabilizing prices, providing a material basis for the government to contain inflation, and ensuring policy implementation. As the most populous country in the world, China's ample food supply and stable market make a huge contribution to curbing global inflation."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Beijing.
(XHTV)