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China has the world's largest agricultural economy and one of the most varied. The nation stands...

China has the world's largest agricultural economy and one of the most varied. The nation stands first among all others in the production of rice, cotton, tobacco, and hogs and is a major producer of wheat, corn, millet, tea, jute, and hemp. This wide range of crops is possible because of the country's varied climate and agricultural zones. China participates on a large scale in international agricultural markets, both as an exporter and as an importer. A successful agricultural sector is critical to China's development. First, it must feed more than 1.3 billion people, about 21 percent of the world's population, using only 7 percent of the world's arable land. Second, it must provide raw materials for the industrial sector. Third, agricultural exports must earn the foreign exchange needed to purchase key industrial and technological items from other countries. China has historically struggled to feed its large population. Even in the twentieth century, famines periodically ravaged China’s population. Great emphasis has always been put on agricultural production, but weather, wars, and politics often mitigated good intentions. With the onset of reforms in the late 1970s, the