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If you want to understand China's economy, think of it as a potato.

Whereas a jumble of official economic and financial data spun out by Beijing are prone to official censorship, potatoes, a humble crop that has been a low-cost dietary staple in much of the West, is one of the more illustrative and reliable barometers for the state of the Chinese economy.

Rice and wheat are considered strategically important foodstuffs by Beijing, which can set prices and production. Potatoes are not. Increasingly, they're consumed as convenience food, allowing their growth trajectory to mirror the population's income growth, as well as the expansion of the national economy.

“Potatoes are now considered as a high-valued crop and a vegetable in China. Demand for potatoes has been growing when other bulk commodities, such as rice and wheat, have seen demand declining,” said Jikun Huang, a professor at the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Consumption has gone up by more than 40% over the past five years, compared with a 2.45% global rate during the same period. Domestic production has kept pace, making China the world’s largest potato grower and largest consumer by volume.

French fries are one of the big reasons. China now eats more than 90,000 tons of frozen fries each year, 70% of them imported. According to a recent Rabobank report, China is expected to gobble 20% more potatoes in the next five years, a testament to the growth of the country’s fast-food restaurants.

No surprise that two U.S. fast food giants, McDonald’s (nyse: MCD - news - people ) and Yum! Brands (nyse: YUM - news - people ), are taking advantage. By 2008, when China hosts the Olympic Games, McDonald’s plans to have 1,000 outlets in China, a 25% increase. Yum!'s nearly 1,700 Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets make it the country's largest restaurant chain. Yum! aims to locate more than half of its 700 new overseas outlets in China by the end of this year. Smart plan: The company's latest quarterly financials showed 26% profit growth in China, compared with 1% in the U.S.

Others are moving in as well. Potato chip and frozen french fry producers--including PepsiCo's (nyse: PEP - news - people ) convenience food division, Frito-Lay, privately held U.S. food company J.R. Simplot and McCain Foods--have been investing in processing plants in China.

It all points to growth for potatoes and, of course, to the waistlines of the Chinese people. Long bet? Think NutriSystem (nasdaq: NTRI - news - people ).

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