CHINA TO IMPORT MORE GRAIN IN 1987 China's grain imports will rise in 1987 because of a serious drought and increasing demand, but will be not be as large as in the past, Chinese officials and Japanese traders told Reuters. They said foreign exchange constraints and national policy would not allow a return to large-scale imports, which peaked at 16.15 mln tonnes in 1982. An agricultural official of the Shanghai government put maximum imports at about 10 mln tonnes this year, against 7.73 mln in 1986 and 5.97 mln in 1985. Officials said grain imports rose in 1986 because of a poor harvest and rising domestic demand, but remained below exports, which rose to 9.42 mln tonnes from 9.33 mln in 1985. "China is short of foreign exchange," the Shanghai official said. "We cannot rely on imports, even at current low world prices. Only if there is a major disaster will we become a major importer." A Japanese trader in Peking said Chinese grain imports would rise and exports fall this year because of the drought, low world prices and rising domestic demand for human and animal consumption. "At current prices, China loses yuan on every tonne of grain it exports, though it earns foreign exchange which it badly needs," the trader said. The People's Daily said last Saturday a serious drought is affecting 13.3 mln hectares of arable land, which will reduce the summer grain harvest from last year's level. The paper added that leaders in some areas were not paying enough attention to agriculture, especially grain, making it difficult to achieve the 1987 grain output target of 405 mln tonnes against 391 mln in 1986. "All areas must spare no effort to raise the autumn harvest area, especially of corn, sweet potatoes, paddy rice and high-yield cash crops," it said. It added factory production might have to be reduced to provide electricity for agriculture if it was needed to fight the drought. Since January, the press has devoted much attention to grain, stressing that growth in output is vital to China's economic and political stability and that prices paid to farmers are too low. Officials in east China have repeatedly said stable grain production is a key state policy and outlined the measures being taken in their areas to encourage output. The Shanghai official said that in one suburb, 10 pct of the pre-tax profits of factories are used to subsidise agriculture. He said rural industries in other suburbs also set aside money for grain and pay the salaries of some of the 70,000 workers available to help farmers. Chu Jinfeng, an official of Fengbing county outside Shanghai, said factory workers get 60 yuan a month and three years unpaid leave to grow grain and can keep the profits. Pan Huashan, an official of the agricultural department of Zhejiang Province, said rural industry also subsidises grain output in his province. "In addition, we are setting up grain production bases, raising the level of science and technology on the farms and improving the supply of raw materials, roads and other infrastructure," he said. The Shanghai official said rural residents who work in industry or commerce usually keep their land to farm in their spare time, or let other family members farm it. In some cases, they lease the land to grain farmers. The China Daily said last month that grain output should reach between 425 and 450 mln tonnes by 1990 and between 480 and 500 mln by 2000. It said growing grain should be made profitable. "The advantages the state promises grain growers actually yield tangible profits for them and are not siphoned off by intermediate agencies because of bureaucracy or corruption. Only this will boost enthusiasm," it said.