ABSTRACT
Since the early 1980s, there have been some changes to the composition of grain varieties consumed at the regional level. Contributing factors include changing dietary culture (northern people eating more rice, and southern people eating more wheat products), migration of population (northern Chinese who work in southern China demand wheat, southern Chinese working in the north demand rice), and increased demand for feedgrain in southern provinces (to meet increased demand for animal products). There have also been changes in the supply side due to changed regional comparative advantages in grain production. Improvement in transportation facilities and gradual deregulation of marketing arrangements are also important. Combined, these two factors have led to changes in grain deficit and surplus patterns and hence the resulting changes in the patterns of regional grain trade. One major phenomenon that has emerged in the past two decades is the change from nan Hang bei diao (transporting grains from the south to the north, chiefly rice) to bei Hang nan yun (moving grains from the north to the south, chiefly com). Further changes in regional grain consumption and trade patterns are expected in the future though they will be gradual.
