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by Animats 3610 days ago
China has far less arable land per capita than most large countries.[1] There's not much slack for major screwups in agriculture. This has been a major driving factor in China's history. China had six famines in the 20th century, and a long history of them before that. The Great Leap Forward was the last and worst one.

[1] http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.ARBL.HA.PC