While climate change is upending food supply chains everywhere, it is a particularly sensitive issue in China, where famines have historically led to unrest, and leaders have long made food security a policy priority. The latest flooding is a reminder of how even the ruling Communist Party struggles to tame the unpredictable weather gods.

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“Climate change is another motivating factor for China to focus on food security,” said Darin Friedrichs, the agriculture market research director at Sitonia Consulting. “A common idea in state media and official speeches is the idea that, given its size, China cannot rely on other countries to feed it through imports.”