China’s commerce ministry has told families to keep a store of daily    1    (necessity) in case of emergencies. COVID-19 outbreaks and     2    (unusual) heavy rains caused an increase in vegetable prices,    3     has raised concerns about supply shortages. Local media recently published lists of goods to store at home,       4    (include) hard breads and instant noodles, vitamins, radios and flashlights.

Some Chinese citizens placed comments     5    social media that expressed fears of food shortages . Earlier this week, state media tried     6    (ease) those fears and further explain the ministry’s statement.

The Economic Daily newspaper told people not to have too much of an overactive imagination. The newspaper added that the purpose of the order was to make sure citizens were not surprised       7    there was a lockdown in their area.

The People’s Daily said the ministry makes such statements every year. The ministry made     8    announcement earlier this year because of natural disasters, the increase in vegetable prices and recent COVID-19 cases.

The commerce ministry said local officials should buy vegetables that can    9    (store) for long periods of time and    10    (strong) emergency food distribution systems.

With the International Conference on Food Loss and Waste closed on Saturday in Jinan, Shandong Province, the country has sent a signal to     1     world that China will deal with issues concerning food security by reducing loss and waste in agriculture. With the theme of reducing food loss and food waste and promoting     2     (globe) food security, the three-day event     3     (hold) both online and offline attracted more than 300 participants.

The current world grain production is about 2.8 billion tons a year. Therefore, the loss of only one percentage     4     (be) equal to the loss of 28 million tons of food. This can feed about 70 million people.

In recent years, China     5     (make) great progress in controlling loss and waste in food, with main efforts including upgrading facilities and     6     (equip). In Shandong Province, China’s major grain producer, the Sinograin (中粮集团) grain storage site is equipped with 4,500 high-definition cameras and 280,000 temperature sensors     7     (ensure) that the stock (储备) is in the best condition. Data shows that during China’s 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020) , about 13 million tons of food had been saved     8     (year) after production.

We cannot end hunger     9     we do not deal with the high levels of food loss and waste. Cooperation and innovations (创新) in business models, technologies and digital solutions could all contribute     10     reducing food loss and waste.