I wonder if chinese popn can move undeground(which is warmer) or to the tropic water. Though ice age could come suddenly but I suspect probably the cooling to freezing could take some decades.

I heard chinese cereal stockpile during the late 60s(after the bad late 50s and early 60s)was gradually increased to last at least a year. Not sure about now. Regardless, we need more food          ......................................

China Casts Shadow Over World Food Markets, Promising Lower Prices for Longer

Prices fell more than 19% on average in 2015, says UN food agency

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LONDON—Massive Chinese stockpiles and a strong dollar are likely to keep food prices from staging a significant recovery this year after four years of falling markets, according to the United Nations food agency.

“In 2016, we will have to watch China very carefully,” said Concepcion Calpe, a senior economist at the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). “[The Chinese] are buying much less, and because they are buying much less, prices are falling,” Ms. Calpe said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

China is a major buyer of commodities from copper to soybeans. Flagging industrial demand has pushed down imports of metals, sending commodity prices tumbling.

But Beijing has also accumulated large stockpiles of many major foodstuffs as part of its food-security policy, Ms. Calpe said.

China’s food stocks have grown so large it has less need to import food and could sell unwanted inventory on world markets, putting extra downward pressure on prices.

Food markets have been under pressure for much of the past year like many other commodities markets. Food prices were nearly 20% cheaper last year compared with 2014, as world markets faced a surplus of staples from meat to dairy products amid a strong dollar and flagging global demand, the FAO said.

The FAO Food Price Index, a monthly measure of a basket of foodstuffs excluding some items such as cocoa and coffee, was on average 19% below 2014’s level, with a 21% decline for sugar and 15% declines in meat and cereals in 2015. In December alone, the index fell 1% from the previous month, the agency said.

“Abundant supplies in the face of a timid world demand and an appreciating dollar are the main reason for the general weakness that dominated food prices in 2015,” said FAO senior economist Abdolreza Abbassian.

A stronger dollar has also created problems for food-importing countries. Food is cheaper in dollar terms, but the currencies of many emerging economies—from Brazil and China to Russia and South Africa—have fallen sharply in the past year, pushing local food prices up.

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A slowing economy doesn’t mean that consumers eat less bread or other staples, but makes countries rely more on inventories of food stocks, cutting down on imports of wheat and cooking oil when their own currency is weak, the FAO’s Ms. Calpe said.

Still, food prices remain relatively high by historical standards and could reverse some of recent gains in the second half of this year, given the conflict in the Middle East and weather patterns, economists said.

Prices are slowly correcting after prices “rocketed” in 2007 and 2008, Ms. Calpe said. “We’ve seen [prices] slowly return to levels precrisis.”

Dollar-denominated food prices might yet reverse course given the tensions in the Middle East which is a major food importer, Ms. Calpe said. Egypt is the world’s largest buyer of wheat, accounting for about 7% of global imports, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

A more important factor in starting to push prices higher again could be the weather, said ABN Amro’s Mr. Rijkers. El Niño, a weather phenomenon that causes unusually dry weather in some parts of the world and wet weather in others, could result in lower agricultural output this year, he said.

 Write to Katherine Dunn at Katherine.Dunn@wsj.com

http://www.wsj.com/articles/china-casts-shadow-over-world-food-markets-promising-lower-prices-for-longer-1452180813