(NewsDakota.com/USAgNet) – China pulled off a new record in grain output in 2022, official data showed on Monday, defying the uncooperative weather at home and the ripples of the Ukraine crisis.

The difficult feat attests to the country’s targeted and effective response to a conflux of headwinds, as food security is adamantly high on the government’s agenda, experts said.

The Global Times reports that China’s capability to sufficiently feed nearly one-fifth of the world’s population against all odds and at reasonable prices offers reassurance to a patchy global grain market, they noted, expecting the country to remain a cornerstone of global food security and economic stability.

China’s grain output in 2022 hit 686.53 billion kilograms, an increase of 0.5 percent from the year before, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday.

The number pointed to a new record high and marked the eighth consecutive year that the country’s total grain production has exceeded 650 billion kilograms.