President Xi has called amount of food wasted in China "shocking and distressing" Although the Asian powerhouse has recently seen a decline in population growth, food security remains a key issue. Andy Coyne looks at what lies behind China's attempts to tackle food waste through its Clean Plate strategy. Eyebrows may have been raised last year when, in the teeth of the Covid-19 outbreak, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a "green recovery" of the world economy. After all, China is usually close to the top of the table of the world's biggest polluters, especially when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions.