China achieves higher early rice output

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠China's output of early rice rose 1.2 percent year on year to reach 28.52 million tonnes in 2025, laying a solid foundation for stabilizing annual grain production, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday.

Among the country's major grain producing provinces, Jiangxi, Hunan, and Guangdong achieved restorative growth with increases in early rice output this year after experiencing a decline in 2024 due to disasters.

Their early rice output grew by 2.4 percent, 1.8 percent, and 1.0 percent, respectively.

In addition, the yield of early rice per mu (about 0.067 hectares) this year has reached 400.8 kilograms, exceeding 400 kilograms for the first time and reflecting a 1.5 percent increase from the previous year.

This year, severe drought during the spring sowing season in some regions hampered the timely transplanting of early rice. Consequently, some farmers switched to other crops, leading to a slight reduction in the early rice sowing area. 

However, thanks to a series of supportive policies introduced by the Chinese government, the total planting area for early rice in the country remained stable at 71.14 million mu (about 4.74 million hectares) despite earlier challenges. This is the sixth year in a row that the planting area has remained steady around 71 million mu.

Amid complex international environment and frequent extreme weather events around the world, China's early rice harvest has laid a solid foundation for stable grain production throughout the year, according to the NBS.

China achieves higher early rice output

The multilateral system is "under attack" amid global turmoil, President of the 80th UN General Assembly Annalena Baerbock warned in her remarks on Wednesday.

In her briefing on the priorities for the resumed 80th Session of the General Assembly, the UNGA president noted that the current multilateral system does not collapse all in a sudden, but "crumbles piece by piece" in divisions, compromises, and lack of political commitment.

The president called all the UN member states to defend the UN Charter and international law and promote cross-regional cooperation.

She also urged to push forward the work of the UNGA on certain critical issues with a strong majority, rather than an absolute consensus among all member states. Such act is not a failure of multilateralism, but "an affirmation of it," she said.

The foundational principles of the institution should not be eroded by appeasement, she said, calling the member states to show courage, leadership, and responsibility at the UN's "critical make-or-break moment."

"The UN needs you. Your support, your leadership, your principle, stand, your cross-regional cooperation, if we are to preserve and modernize this institution, if we are to make it, rather than break it," she said.

UNGA President warns global multilateral system "under attack"

UNGA President warns global multilateral system "under attack"