Reuters:
I have two questions. The first is about pig breeding. About 200,000 pig farms have been shut down since this year's new environmental rules were introduced. Could you inform us about the specific drop in numbers of pigs? How many pigs will there be at the end of the year? The second question is about ethanol. China plans the nationwide use of ethanol fuel by 2020. How much corn will be consumed to achieve the goal? Does China have enough corn? Or will it have to import corn or other raw materials for ethanol as many predict? Thank you.
Ye Zhenqin:
It is important to control pollution caused by pig breeding. The Ministry of Agriculture has implemented the policies of the central government and made efforts in the following four aspects order to achieve a balance between production and environmental protection.
The first is introducing bans. Pig breeding is banned in drinking water-protected areas, scenic spots as well as in educational and sci-tech parks.
The second aspect involves setting limits. Limits have been set on the number of pigs bred in areas containing an intensive water network, restricting the huge amount of pigs and low farming capacity in southern China.
The third aspect is relocation. Some pig farms have been relocated to areas with high capacity, such as northeast China, where there is vast land and enough corn to feed the animals.
Finally, there is treatment. Environmental pollution is being controlled through such ways as ecological breeding and waste recycling.
All those efforts aim to handle properly the relationship between agricultural production, stock supply and environmental protection. Up to now, areas with high capacity in northeast China have accommodated a substantial number of pigs transplanted from the water-extensive areas in the south. I think this is a growing trend. Meanwhile, we should avoid the "one-size-fits-all" approach and only impose bans on a scientific basis so as to protect farmers' interests.
Han Changfu:
Please allow me to offer you two figures. The first relates to the number of hogs. There was a slight drop in those in stock, but the general situation remains stable. The total number of hogs in stock and sold is around 1.2 billion a year.
The second figure concerns hogs raised on large-scale farms. About half of the hogs are raised on farms capable of feeding at least 500 animals and even more, making it easy to prevent epidemic diseases and treat the manure in a more efficient manner.
Han Jun:
You have talked about the impact of using corn to make fuel ethanol just now. Lately, 15 government departments of China jointly issued a plan to increase the production capacity of fuel ethanol by another 8 million tons. Currently, only 2.6 to 2.7 million tons of fuel ethanol are produced from grain. With this plan in place, the production capacity will reach 10 million tons. What does it mean? It means every three tons of grain can be processed into one ton of fuel ethanol, and if all the fuel ethanol is to be made from corn, the production capacity of 10 million tons of fuel ethanol will consume 30 million tons of corn, or 30 billion kilograms.
One of the major considerations behind this plan is that our corn has had good harvests for several years in a row, which has accumulated into the largest stock of corn in the world, but the corn in the granary must be channeled due to its short storage period. So now, multiple channels have been utilized to reduce the excess stockpiles of policy-supported grain. According to the calculation and measurement of relevant national authorities based on the current grain stock, increasing the production capacity of fuel ethanol now will not have a big impact on the food supply and demand in the short term.
The de-stocking of corn will help the market return to its basic balance of supply and demand gradually within three to five years. Also, we are not just using grain to produce fuel ethanol now. Actually, if you take a look at the plan by the 15 government departments, you will notice that we will adopt many other ways to develop fuel ethanol apart from corn, for example, raw materials like the crop straws.
Based on China's national conditions, one thing has been made very clear in the policies is that it is not permitted to appropriate agricultural land or grain to develop fuel ethanol. China is a country with a large population density, so our primary guideline is to make sure that everyone has food to eat. You asked if China will import corn from abroad to develop fuel ethanol. This is a question many people have asked before. Actually, I have already answered this question just now. The leading reason why we are developing fuel ethanol and expanding its production capacity now is to de-stock the corn. So I think, from our national conditions, it is not practical to import corn from abroad to develop the industry of fuel ethanol.
That's all I would like to say for now. Thank you.
People's Daily Online:
This year's No. 1 Central Document put forward the need to keep advancing agricultural supply-side structural reform. Please introduce in more detail the progress made so far. Thank you.
Wu Hongyao:
Agricultural supply-side structural reform involves using the reform approach to promote the adjustment of the agricultural structure, so that the supply of agricultural products better fit ongoing changes in demand, thus being better able to meet consumers' expectations. Over the past two years, various regions and departments have implemented fully the spirit of the No. 1 Central Documents, deeply promoted agricultural supply-side structural reform, and made positive progress mainly in the following aspects.
First, the structure of agricultural production has been constantly improving. Fostering high quality products and distinctively local products has become the direction of current agricultural development. In the past, we cared only about yield. Now, we rely on high-quality brands to develop the market and improve incomes at all levels.
Second, we are fostering an environment-friendly mode of agricultural development. Green ecology has become the consensus for agricultural development.
Third, we have speeded up reform of the rural industrial structure. In particular, the integration of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries, and promoting flourishing new industries and businesses in rural areas, all of which have injected fresh impetus into agricultural and overall rural development. These have all become the most prominent agricultural and rural development highlights. Overall, the ecological and cultural values of rural areas, and such functions as sightseeing and recreation, are becoming investment hot spots.
As for rural reform, we have mainly activated the following three points.
First is to activate the market. The reform of the agricultural products' purchase and storage system has achieved remarkable results. The reform of the guaranteed base price policy for cotton is better than expected. We have initially established the pricing mechanism for agricultural products, activated the mainstay market of industrial chains, guaranteed the basic income of farmers, and enhanced the overall efficiency and competitiveness of agriculture.
Second is to activate the key elements. We have implemented measures for separating land ownership rights, contract rights, and management rights for contracted rural land. We have taken steady steps to reform the rural collective property rights system. We have also made overall arrangements to carry out pilot reforms with regard to rural land requisition, the marketization of rural collective land designated for commercial construction and the system covering rural residential land. Through a series of reforms, we have made rural resources proactive and effective, and the potential of the rural economy is gradually being played out.
Third is to activate the principal parts. The principal production and service parts in new agriculture continue to develop in various forms and in moderate scale. At the same time, governments at all levels are paying great attention to supporting small-scale production. By strengthening cooperation and service, small producers are gradually being brought into the track of agricultural modernization. Thanks.
Economic Daily:
I'm concerned about the crop seed industry. A modern crop seed industry is a strong symbol of modern agriculture. In recent years, China has made a series of arrangements to grow the industry. Would you like to elaborate on the industry's development? Thank you.
Han Changfu:
China is a large agricultural country with a big population. It ranks first in the world in the output of many agricultural products, so it is necessary for the country to have its own crop seed industry.
In recent years, the industry has seen obvious changes as a result of unswerving sci-tech and institutional innovations. These changes can be summarized as follows:
First, the industry is now significantly more capable of innovation. In 2016, the number of intellectual property applications for new seed products doubled that of five years ago. Seed strains independently bred by China now account for 95 percent of those used for the country's staple crops. For the two staple crops of rice and wheat, the proportion is 100 percent. For vegetables, the proportion of foreign-bred strains has been reduced across the board to 13 percent from 20 percent five years ago.
Second, seed enterprises have grown much stronger. Research institutes and universities used to carry out seed breeding research, but now it is mostly enterprises. This change is the result of government incentives being given to enterprises. Meanwhile, we support and encourage enterprises to engage in mergers and restructuring and increase their spending on R&D. Currently, the top 50 seed enterprises spend 7.4 percent of their collective sales revenues on R&D.
Third, seed production and supply capacity have improved remarkably. In the past, seed breeding was quite scattered and farmers kept a portion of the seeds from their own crops for future use. We have set up seed breeding bases where conditions are favorable. There are currently three national bases in Gansu, Sichuan and Hainan respectively.
Fourth, legal oversight has been strengthened. Not long ago, China revised its Seed Law along with nine supporting rules and standardization documents to improve the legislation regulating the industry.
Going forward, we will focus on breeding green, high-quality and cost-effective seeds and increasing the competitiveness of seed enterprises in the international market. It will take time for China's seed industry to grow strong, but it won't be long. Thank you!
China News Service:
Rural land expropriation, collective operational construction land entering the market, and rural residential land pilot reforms have been underway for more than two years, so I would like to ask how the pilot reforms are progressing? How can you protect the rights and interests of farmers in carrying out these reforms? Thank you.
Han Jun:
Rural land expropriation, collective operational construction land entering the market, and rural residential land system reforms are the three key areas of the rural land system that we identified as the "Three Reforms." This reform task was proposed by the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee, and is being led by the Ministry of Land and Resources, and also involving the participation of the Central Agricultural Office and the Ministry of Agriculture. The three reforms were planned to be completed by the end of this year, but have now been moved back to the end of 2018. Looking at the reforms occurring in the past two years, the most important thing is that we have recorded a number of institutional achievements with the aim of further improving the rural land system. Land expropriation reform can be said to have entered the actual operational phase. Collective operational land for construction entering the market is now covered by a relatively mature and efficient system of rules, so that the results of reform in this aspect are outstanding.
In regard to rural residential land system reform, people are very concerned about it, and it is a very sensitive issue. It also has achieved very profound progress, and the protection of farmers' residential land property rights and interests has scored remarkable results.
For example, the first deal of the collective operational construction land entering the market, and the first land officially entered into the market transactions occurred in Deqing County, Zhejiang. Last year, while conducting research in Deqing County, we found 49 cases involving nearly 400 mu of land that had entered the market, with the volume of transactions reaching 104 million yuan. Meanwhile collective economic organizations and farmers obtained income of 83.55 million yuan.
Deqing comrades told me they have 1,180 cases involving 10,000 mu of land in 12 townships and 150 administrative villages that can enter the market as collective operational construction land. If all this land were put on the market, can you guess how much money would be involved? About 2.6 billion yuan! Farmers and collective economic organizations would get more than 2 billion yuan in revenue. This reform brings tangible benefits to the farmers. More importantly, when this 10,000 mu enters the market, it provides land support for local rural new industries, as well as for many people to return home to start businesses.
Another example is the system for rural residential land, where reform efforts have paid off. Yujiang County, Jiangxi Province, for instance, has achieved a success in its institutional reform far beyond expectations.
Nearly 40 percent of villagers in the county possessed more than one house site under a single household, which violated the law that one household can only possess one site.
The county has 92,400 house sites among which 23,000 are deserted. How to reclaim these abandoned sites? Within two years, villagers submitted a total of 28,000 house sites covering 3,800 mu (or 253.33 hectares). The retrieved land can sustain housing supply to the entire village for the next 10 to 15 years. Most of the 28,000 house sites were illegally built, and 81 percent of the land was providing no returns.
The difficulty of the work is beyond our imagination. However, after learning from their experiences, we know that highly autonomous governance with an executive board comprising local farmers is the key to addressing the disputes like those about residential land in rural society.
The major challenges facing land requisition are unspecific scope, low compensation standard and irregular procedures. Our pilot reform is drawing lessons from those experiences so that they can work as a testimony for amendment of pertinent laws.
The No.1 Circular has made it clear that we'll learn from the spearheading reform of the system for rural residential land to keep the property rights of farmers from being infringed by external capital. In view of such a prerequisite, the government should implement farmers' collective rights for residential lands, ensuring their rights to use and live on them, seeking rental or other cooperative models to ensure reuse of abandoned lands in the form of collective economic organizations, all contributing to an increase in farmers' incomes.
Beijing and Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, are leading the way in testing the effectiveness of the reform. The Central Agricultural Office is resolved to press ahead with the pilot programs under the concerted efforts of other authorities, such as, the Ministry of Land and Resources, to release maximized reform dividends in this regard. Thank you.
Hu Kaihong:
This press conference is about to end. We only have the time for two more questions.