China cracks down livestream eating, prompts suspicions of food crisis

中國打擊日常飲食，引起人們對糧食危機的懷疑

Xi Jinping calls for an end to food waste as China increases food imports


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — China's Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission announced on Sept. 2 that over the past month, it had shut down 13,600 online accounts in which people have engaged in livestreamed eating after the country's leader lamented the wasting of food.

On Aug. 11, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chairman Xi Jinping (習近平) called food waste in China "appalling and heartbreaking." His comments brought livestream eating — a popular type of online content in which the host engulfs a gigantic amount of food in a short time — under criticism but also raised speculation as to whether China is having trouble feeding its people.

Originally from South Korea, livestream eating, or "mukbang," has presented a new way for advertisers in China to market products such as prepared food, sauces, and utensils. Successful mukbang livestreamers can attract millions of followers and charge more than RMB$300,000 (US$43,844) for each advertisement, according to Chinese state-run mouthpiece Xinhua.

But after Xi's remark, multiple Chinese social media platforms, including Weibo and TikTok, began censoring content in which people overeat or encourage others to do so. These platforms have been deleting videos, terminating livestreams, and if necessary, suspending offending accounts.

The coronavirus pandemic and the devastating floods in southern China have placed a strain on the country's food supply, which is already somewhat vulnerable, as the country has long been the largest food importer in the world. In 2019, China imported over 111.4 million tons of food, and it relies on foreign growers for 80 percent of its soybean supply.

Although an official from the National Bureau of Statistics recently insisted the food supply is stable, citing a 0.9-percent increase in the summer harvest compared to last year, the bureau's data show that China imported US$4.24 billion worth of grains in the first seven months of 2020, which is US$1.2 billion higher than 2019.

Analysts at the Chinese brokerage firm Shenwan Hongyuan (申萬宏源) recently estimated the country would lose 11.2 million tons of food compared to last year owing to the massive floods, reported CNN. The Chinese authorities reportedly tried releasing grain reserves to prevent the market prices from rising but failed; domestic soybeans in June cost nearly 30 percent more than at the beginning of the year.