China understands food security — the EU does not

Having access to a reliable supply of affordable, nutritious food may be something many Euronews readers take for granted. But with war and extreme weather linked to climate change disrupting food production, supply chains and harvests, food is becoming more expensive and, with future shocks and a growing global population, could become less abundant.

The meat we produce and eat in the continent is especially vulnerable, as it relies heavily on a supply chain dependent on imports.

China is showing strong signals of having realised this, and is acting now to ensure greater food security for its people in the future. The EU is not.

New proteins: A defining technology of the 21st century

In a striking coincidence, on a rainy day in March, China was taking strides towards food security while the EU was doing the opposite.

On that same day, the EU decided to miss the boat on one of the defining technologies of the 21st century: new proteins.

In grey Brussels, political representatives of all EU countries agreed to ban ‘meaty’ terms such as beef, pork or chicken from being used to name cultivated meat products, potentially pulling the rug out from under a technology which could provide a reliable flow of home-grown protein, the price and availability of which would not yo-yo with world events.

Meanwhile, in Beijing, the National People’s Congress unveiled the 15th Five-Year Plan, China’s most important political and industrial strategy document, and for the first time identified new proteins – including cultivated meat – as a national food security priority.

Leaving aside the ridiculousness of not allowing producers to call a muscle grown from a cow cell ‘beef’, Europe’s decision demonstrates a total failure to address the critical issue of food security through protein diversification grown at home.

The EU is dependent on imported high-protein feed

We, in Europe, like to think that we are self-sufficient in food, but the reality is a supply chain heavily dependent on imports for meat production.

Yes, the EU is a net exporter of meat (especially pork) and dairy. But the mighty EU industrial meat complex is structurally dependent on imported high-protein feed to grow the farmed animals, especially soy and maize.

The EU relies on imports for two-thirds of its high-protein feed requirements. High-protein feed (above 30% protein content) is used to optimise growth and overall productivity in intensive livestock production.

Soybean meals are the primary high-protein feed source, accounting for 17% (11.8 million tonnes) of total EU feed protein use, of which nearly all is imported.

Soya production in the EU only covers 10% of usage in the bloc, primarily for human consumption (think of soya drinks, yogurts and tofu). The EU also imports substantial volumes of maize, another key animal feed crop, to satisfy the exorbitant demand for animal feed.

Supply chain disruption causes spiralling meat prices

The Ukraine and Iran wars are troubling examples of how vulnerable systems like this are, with supply chain disruption causing spiralling meat prices.

Instead of consistently ramping up animal feed imports, diversifying the protein that’s available and accessible can actually shore up food security.

China figured that out.

China is also a meat powerhouse, accounting for the largest meat production capacity in the world – roughly one out of every two pigs slaughtered globally is slaughtered in China.

Like the EU, it’s highly dependent on imported animal feed, in particular soy from Brazil, Argentina and, recently less so due to the tariff war, the US.

Unlike Europe, China sees dependency on high-protein feed as a critical vulnerability for the country. This is the primary reason why President Xi Jinping elevated new proteins to a top food security priority in the 15th Five-Year Plan.

The plan explicitly states that China will “include new protein sources in the national food security strategy.”

Its stated goal is to: “Promote the development of the biomanufacturing industry, build key technology and raw material platforms, strengthen R&D and applications in areas such as microbial proteins and functional food ingredients, and drive the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries.”

Biomanufacturing, the backbone of precision fermentation and cultivated meat, now sits alongside renewables and AI as a national priority sector.

China treats new proteins as national security infrastructure

In fact, China now treats new proteins the same way it treated solar panels two decades ago, and batteries and electric vehicles (EVs) a decade ago: as national security infrastructure, not a consumer lifestyle choice.

As a new report by global sustainability consultancy Systemiq shows, China is applying its proven ‘industrial strategy playbook’ to protein production: combining state-backed research and development, infrastructure investment, public procurement and low-cost capital to accelerate domestic capability and reduce dependence on imported feed and livestock systems.

China’s Five-Year Plans don’t just transform their own economy. They reshape global markets.

When China decided to back EVs in the 2011-2015 Plan, electric car adoption accelerated worldwide. More than one in four cars sold today are electric. China dominates the electric car industry, with its brands responsible for more than half of global Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) models and sales. The same pattern could now play out in food.

According to projections from Systemiq’s analysts, China’s strategic pivot toward biomanufacturing and new proteins is set to slash its soybean import dependency by approximately 25% by 2030. This is a volume almost equal to the current imports from the United States.

The EU risks new dependencies

If the EU doesn’t act now and invest heavily in new proteins, it risks exacerbating animal feed dependency with the US and South America, and increasing the (already considerable) trade deficit and technology dependency with China.

The irony is that this technology was born in Europe. Around 15 years ago, the Dutch developed the first lab-grown burger in the world.

This makes sense: we don’t have a lot of arable land but we are world leaders in biotechnology and biomanufacturing.

In addition to research and innovation capacity, Europe has the highly-skilled labour force needed to take proteins made from plants, microorganisms and cultivated animal cells to market. We clearly have a competitive advantage there.

The EU Biotech Act II: A second chance

Thankfully, it’s not too late: the upcoming EU Biotech Act II offers a second chance.

This powerful industrial policy instrument is the EU’s bid to stop being a biotech talent farm for the US and China by cutting red tape, unlocking investment, scaling up production at home and boosting ‘Made in the EU’.

For the Act to work towards strengthening food security in the bloc, it needs to include biomanufacturing for food and feed applications.

This way, we could biomanufacture enzymes, feed inputs, proteins, and biomaterials domestically rather than importing them.

The inclusion of food and feed production in the Biotech Act II could signal that the EU is finally onboard the food security boat before it’s too late.