In 1995 Lester Brown published a book, Who Will Feed China? Wake-up Call to a Small Planet. Among the most influential accounts warning of the dire consequences of China's growing appetite for food and resources, the book ignited an international debate centered on the domestic and international consequences of China's mega-growth. Although China continued to lose land to urbanization, and faces acute water shortages and pollution issues, it retained high levels of food self-sufficiency in most areas and the predicted famine did not occur as rising world food prices prompted increased food production. Indeed, China has not only maintained high levels of grain self-sufficiency, but maintains a balance of export and import of grain that is price sensitive and transport sensitive.