XINHUA – Chinese President Xi Jinping (Xinhua; pic below) has called for enhanced efforts to build up China’s strength in agriculture and do a good job in work on agriculture and rural areas.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks while addressing the annual central rural work conference held from Friday to Saturday in Beijing.
Advancing rural revitalisation across the board and moving faster to build up China’s strength in agriculture is part of the CPC Central Committee’s strategic plans of building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects, Xi pointed out.
Xi called for full steam in pressing ahead with the work related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers with rural revitalisation as the focus, and vigorously promoting agricultural and rural modernisation.
Li Keqiang presided over the conference, which was also attended by Li Qiang, Wang Huning, Han Zheng, Cai Qi and Ding Xuexiang.
In building up China’s strength in agriculture, efforts should be made to reflect Chinese characteristics, and take into consideration China’s national conditions, resource endowment featuring limited land for a huge population, the historical background of farming civilisation, and the times’ requirement of harmony between humanity and nature, Xi said.
China should take its own path instead of simply following the foreign models of modern agriculture development, Xi added.
Xi called for strengthening top-level design and developing plans to move faster to build up China’s strength in agriculture, taking steady and incremental steps, and solving practical issues that are most urgent for agricultural and rural development, and of the most pressing concern to farmers.
It is always a priority to ensure a stable and secure supply of grain and key farm produce, Xi stressed, urging efforts to keep the country’s farmland area above the red line of about 120 million hectares and effectively revitalise the seed industry.
Xi said efforts should both be made to increase grain output and reduce losses, as well as to establish a diversified food supply system and expand food sources in multiple ways.
Advancing rural revitalisation across the board is a crucial task for building up China’s strength in agriculture in the new era, according to Xi.
He demanded shifting manpower, material resources and fiscal support to rural revitalisation, saying consolidating and expanding the achievements in poverty alleviation is the bottom line task of rural revitalisation.
Xi stressed the need to rely on both science and technology and reform to facilitate the work of strengthening China’s agriculture.
He called for efforts to establish a multi-level agricultural science and technology innovation system with sound division of labour and cooperation, and moderate competition. Xi underscored deepening rural reform so that more fruits of reform could be shared by farmers.
