China has given up one of its most sacred tenets and in effect abandoned its policy of being self-sufficient in grain as its population outpaces the ability to grow its own food.

Beijing has increasingly imported grains and food but has maintained an ideological emphasis on producing as much domestically as possible. For the first time, however, it has set a grains output target well below domestic consumption rates, implying a move away from that ideological commitment to producing all the grains it needs – central to Communist party thinking for decades.

The new policy stance, included in guidelines issued this week by the state council, or cabinet, instead placed a greater emphasis on the quality, rather than just the quantity, of what is produced.