China’s agricultural sector demonstrated remarkable resilience and growth throughout 2025, with official data from the National Bureau of Statistics revealing significant production increases across both grain and livestock categories. The comprehensive report released on January 19, 2026, indicates the nation’s strategic focus on food security continues to yield substantial results.
Grain production reached an impressive 714.88 million metric tons, representing a 1.2 percent increase compared to 2024 figures. This overall growth was primarily driven by autumn grain output, which constitutes the largest portion of China’s annual harvest, climbing 1.5 percent to reach 536.62 million tons. While summer grain experienced a marginal decline of 0.1 percent settling at 149.75 million tons, early-season rice production saw a 1.2 percent increase totaling 28.51 million tons.
Breaking down the cereal production specifics, corn output surged by 2.1 percent to 301.24 million tons, while rice production grew modestly by 0.7 percent to 209.04 million tons. Wheat production remained stable at approximately 140.07 million tons, showing negligible change from the previous year. Soybean cultivation, a critical component of China’s agricultural strategy, expanded by 1.3 percent reaching 20.91 million tons.
The livestock sector achieved a historic milestone with total output of pork, beef, mutton, and poultry exceeding 100 million tons for the first time, reaching 100.72 million tons—a substantial 4.2 percent year-on-year increase. Pork production, which dominates China’s meat sector, grew by 4.1 percent to 59.38 million tons. Poultry meat output witnessed the most dramatic expansion at 6.7 percent growth, reaching 28.37 million tons. Beef production increased by 2.8 percent to 8.01 million tons, though mutton experienced a 4.2 percent decline to 4.96 million tons.
Dairy production showed modest improvement with milk output rising 0.3 percent to 40.91 million tons, while egg production decreased by 2.5 percent to 34.98 million tons. The report also highlighted significant expansion in hog farming, with the number of slaughtered hogs increasing by 2.4 percent to 719.73 million head. The year-end hog inventory grew by 0.5 percent to 429.67 million head, indicating sustained production capacity for the coming year.