Xu Liang Zhu Jing Wang Xuejun: China's staple grain policy agricultural insurance: rule constraints and policy optimization.

Policy-based Agricultural Insurance for China's Main Grain: Rule Constraints and Policy Optimization

xu Liang Zhu Jing Wang Xuejun

policy-based agricultural insurance is one of the most commonly used domestic support policy tools for "benchmarking" WTO-related rules and constraints. China is also actively promoting the transformation and upgrading of domestic agricultural policy formulation with it as an important "starting point". On the basis of the pilot projects of complete cost insurance and income insurance for three major grain crops launched by 24 major grain-producing counties in 6 provinces in 2018, the executive meeting of the State Council in June 2021 decided to expand the scope of full cost insurance and planting income insurance for food crops. This paper analyzes the system design space of China's staple grain policy agricultural insurance from the perspective of WTO domestic support rules, studies and judges the possible challenges in adapting to WTO rules when the insurance pilot scheme explored by China in 2018 is used in this large-scale practice, and puts forward targeted optimization suggestions for the subsequent expansion of the scope of agricultural insurance implementation. The study found that the existing domestic support policies for staple grains are in different stages of promotion, and there are differences in the operability of the two types of insurance subsidies classified as "green boxes", and the implementation of full cost insurance for rice and wheat and corn income insurance is more desirable at this stage; according to the previous exploration programs in various parts of China, the two types of insurance subsidies are actually more likely to be classified as "yellow boxes" measures; while implementing the main grain policy agricultural insurance "sub-variety policy" promotion mode, the full cost insurance subsidy needs to be optimized for the "green box" measures, focus on exploring the "full coverage, non-specific" staple grain income insurance, and strengthen the central government's specific guidance on local full cost insurance and income insurance work.