Xi Jinping is increasingly concerned about food security.

For Xi, China's diet is too dependent on U.S., Ukraine

A slogan is trending online in China: "Returning forest to farmland." Video clips of parks and forests being turned into farmland are going viral.
 
To those who know China's recent past, it's an upside-down reality. The basic government policy for the last two decades has been the exact opposite: "Returning farmland to forest."
 
For years, the emphasis was on halting desertification and going green. But the leadership under President Xi Jinping is increasingly concerned about food security.
 
Problematically for Beijing, the U.S. and Ukraine account for a large chunk of corn and soybean imports. Both are crucial for animal feed and directly impact pork production. The Ukraine war and the U.S.-led coalition against China are worrying factors for the Chinese leader.
 
China wants to boost its grain production, and many forests will be reclaimed as farmland to realize this. Meeting this goal will also entail sending young unemployed people in urban areas to farming villages, a reverse of the migration that took place at the beginning of this century.