China’s secret commodity stockpiles

Policymakers in Beijing are worried that a new anti-China US president could strangle their supply routes.

China is a vast country. It takes a lot of grain and meat to feed 1.4bn people. It also takes a steady hand and exceptional foresight to manage a country that large. Yet, the economy has struggled in recent years because of mismanagement and a real estate crisis. Lawmakers in Beijing are also trying to push the economy away from resource-intensive industries. As a result, the country’s appetite for commodities should be falling.

But the opposite is happening. Last year, China’s commodity imports surged by 16% in volume terms. Commodity imports are also up by almost a third since the pandemic. And they’re still rising, up by 7% in the first five months of this year. Given the country’s economic struggles, this rise doesn’t reflect consumption. Instead, China is building its commodity stockpiles because it’s fearful of geopolitical threats. Policymakers in Beijing seem worried that a new anti-China president could try to strangle supply routes to China.

So, what’s going on here? First, de…