Farmers sow corn in Youyi County, Shuangyashan, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, April 19, 2022. Photo: VCG

At least 14 provincial officials have been investigated since August last year as China focuses on cracking down on corruption in grain buying and selling.

As the largest grain-producing province in China, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province is the “ballast stone” of national grain security. Heilongjiang investigated six provincial executives, including two former heads of the provincial grain industry since 2021.

As of April 15, 2022, the discipline department of Heilongjiang Province had filed a total of 686 cases from 1,009 people, according to nbd.com.cn on Wednesday.

Provincial leaders of the grain industry in other provinces such as Zhejiang, Fujian and Anhui (east China) are also under investigation.

These cases show that corruption existed in many aspects of grain sourcing, storage, sales and harvesting and management, according to media reports.

Zhang Wufeng, former director of the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration, is being investigated for alleged serious violations of discipline and the law.

Zhang is also a former secretary of the administration’s main group of Party members.

The investigation is being carried out by the Communist Party of China’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission, according to a statement released Wednesday.

Chinese authorities have reaffirmed the country’s focus on grain security, as China introduced a series of policies to boost grain production this year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture. Finance.

The country will provide more one-time subsidies to farmers to help them cope with increased expenses caused by rising prices of agricultural supplies, the ministries said.