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from the Prime Minister, Mr. Huang said that China had already established her own agricultural machine industry for the mafacture of tractors and other implements. The Chinese Government's present objective was to raise the scientific level of the agricultural machine industry in order to achieve greater modernisation, stand- ardisation and improvement of techniques.
The Prime Minister asked whether China had enjoyed a good year for her crops: was there any danger of a food shortage? Mr. Huang said that, in terms of value, China's exports of agricultural products balanced her imports. In the main, China exported rice and imported wheat. China could meet the basic needs of her population in grain but did not have much to spare. The Government
When the encouraged the people to consume more rice than wheat. Prime Minister asked whether the growth of the Chinese population might not overtake the country's capacity to feed it, Mr. Huang replied that the Chinese Government had achieved very marked results in the field of family planning: in the cities, the population growth was now below 1% and in some provinces even less. These policies would be further encouraged, with the objective of achieving an overall national population growth of between 1 and 2%.
In response to a question from the Prime Minister about fertilisers, Mr. Huang said that the proportion of chemical fertilisers used in China was still relatively low although production had increased, The Prime Minister expressed the view that the relative efficiency of British agriculture, reflected in the fact that only 31% of the UK population was employed on the land, made agriculture a promising field for co-operation between the two countries; the British agricultural machine industry was both
efficient and export-minded.
Mr. Huang said that the Chinese Government had been glad to witness the development of trade, industrial co-operation and
cultural contacts between China and the UK; the increase in
Ministerial visits was also conducive to the deepening of friendship and co-operation between the two countries. Mr. Varley had invited the Chinese Vice-Premier in charge of the production of military equipment to visit the UK and this invitation would be taken up
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/in November.
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