Economic Daily:

At present, with mounting risks of uncertainty in global food production and supply chains, there are new challenges to ensuring the effective supply of grain and other major agricultural products. While accelerating the construction of a new development pattern, what will be done to ensure food security and respond to external uncertainties with domestic certainties by guaranteeing stable production and a sufficient supply of grain and other important agricultural products?

Cong Liang:

Thank you for your question. General Secretary Xi Jinping has stressed on many occasions that feeding the more than 1 billion people is China's fundamental national condition and that we must always give our full attention to the issue of food security in China, not slacking off even a moment. Important arrangements have been made in the report to the 20th CPC National Congress that we must reinforce the foundations for food security on all fronts and ensure that China's total area of farmland does not fall below the redline of 1.8 billion mu (120 million hectares), so that China's food supply remain firmly in its own hands. Focusing on this important arrangement, we will work with all localities and government departments to be prepared for potential dangers and move faster to build a national food security guarantee system at a very high level characterized by quality, efficiency and sustainability. To be specific, measures will be taken in the following five aspects.

First, we will implement a food crop production strategy based on farmland management to strengthen the protection and development of farmland. We will practice the strictest farmland protection system, take more measures that "have teeth" to protect farmland, and ensure that the total area of farmland in China stays above the red line of 120 million hectares. We will keep building high-standard farmland, step up efforts to develop high-efficiency water-saving irrigation, and dig out the potential for increasing new farmland.

Second, we will implement a food crop production strategy based on technological applications to enhance scientific and technological support, such as in the modern seed industry. We will make more efforts to revitalize the seed industry, improving independent scientific and technological capabilities in the seed industry and ensuring that the germplasm resources are self-supporting and that their risks are better controlled. We will enhance the development and application of agricultural machinery and equipment, improve the prevention and control system for crop diseases and pests, and promote R&D of green storage, high-efficiency logistics, processing of grain and edible oil and other technologies so as to keep injecting new impetus into food security.

Third, we will optimize the production layout to strengthen grain production capacity. We will improve laws and regulations to safeguard national food security, fully implement the policies that both Party committees and governments should be held accountable for food security, and carry out a strict assessment of responsibility for farmland protection and food security, ensuring that the major production and marketing areas, as well as production and marketing balancing areas, share the responsibility for safeguarding the food supply. We will redouble our efforts to establish functional areas for grain production and take a combination of measures to stabilize and increase grain output to keep the annual grain output above 1.3 trillion jin (650 million tonnes). We will adopt a holistic approach to food and develop food resources on all fronts and through multiple means. 

Fourth, we will strengthen the regulation over grain collection and storage to achieve a dynamic equilibrium of supply and demand at a higher level. We will enhance food security by coordinating production, purchasing, storage, processing and sales. We will also improve the monitoring and pre-warning system and strengthen targeted regulation to maintain overall stability in the food market. We will improve the food reserve system, keep food reserves at a reasonable level and optimize the structural layout. We will take innovative actions to strengthen supervision and law enforcement, strictly punish food-related corruption and deepen reform of institutions and mechanisms to ensure that the barn of the people is well safeguarded and managed.

Fifth, we will encourage food conservation and reduce losses to promote food conservation, nutrition and health. We will strengthen regulation over the entire chain and promote the application of smart harvesting machinery, green grain storage technology, and moderate processing technique so as to reduce losses and waste to the greatest extent. We will hold themed activities including World Food Day and National Food Security Publicity Week. We will advocate simple, moderate, green and low-carbon ways of life and foster a new atmosphere of cherishing and conserving food and healthy consumption. Moreover, these efforts also need the great support and assistance of our friends from the media. Thank you.