Chen Wenjun:

Thank you, Mr. Tang. The floor is now open for questions. Please indicate the media organization you work for before raising questions.

CCTV:

At the end of last year, the central rural work conference made arrangements to accelerate the building of strong agriculture. What does it entail and what are the basic requirements of this endeavor? Thank you.

Tang Renjian:

Thank you for your question. This is a crucial issue and comprises the essence of the document. Accelerating the building of strong agriculture is a strategic arrangement made for the work concerning agriculture, rural areas and rural residents in the new era by the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core. It was made to coordinate China's internal and international imperatives and build China into a great modern socialist country in all respects. It clarifies the historical status and future goals of the work concerning agriculture, rural areas, and rural residents in the overall drive of China's national rejuvenation.

Building strong agriculture involves many facets. It involves the growth of productivity and the development of production relations. It also concerns the comprehensive upgrading of agriculture, progress in every sector of rural areas, and the well-rounded development of rural residents. For one thing, China must meet the standard qualifications for strong agriculture. Despite differences in resources, institutional environment, and agricultural capacity, foreign countries with strong, modern agriculture bear common features. We need to follow the general principle of modern agriculture development, find out where we have fallen short, make up for our weaknesses, and leverage our advantages in a bid to build an agricultural sector that is strong in supply, sci-tech equipment, business systems, industrial resilience and overall competitiveness. In addition, Chinese characteristics need to be considered based on our national conditions. Agricultural planting and animal husbandry require an appropriate natural environment, which is crucial for agriculture. Likewise, the endeavor of building strong agriculture also needs to fit our national and agricultural conditions, and we need to rely on ourselves to solve practical problems. This is very important. China has a vast population but limited land resources. Its farming civilization has a long history, but our time demands greater harmony between humanity and nature. These three aspects determine that we must be self-dependent in securing our food supply. To develop agriculture, we must rely on the two-tier management system, which integrates cooperative management with household contract management. We must also advance eco-friendly and low-carbon agriculture, sustain our farming civilization, and promote prosperity for all. These statements reflect China's characteristics as well as its national and agricultural conditions. We need to explore a path of agricultural modernization with distinctive Chinese features.

Building China's strength in agriculture is a long-term task and a systematic project. This requires attention to methods while grasping timing, degree, and effectiveness. First, it is necessary to accurately understand the layout of rural work regarding agriculture, rural areas, and rural residents. Building China's strength in agriculture is in line with advancing rural revitalization across the board, with the same goals and unified processes. Currently, the focus should be on advancing rural revitalization on all fronts, ensuring the connection between policy and work systems, and maintaining work continuity without changing the focus, theme, or channel. Second, it is necessary to strengthen overall planning. We should accelerate the study and formulation of plans to speed up the building of China's strength in agriculture, do a good job of overall planning and systematic arrangements, and connect with existing plans. It should be neither a completely new plan nor disconnected from existing ones, but rather a clear roadmap and a working plan with a solid and effective implementation that is both connected and innovative. We must work out such a plan. Third, it is necessary to highlight practical results and effectiveness. Our work’s emphasis should be on solving the most urgent and pressing issues of local agricultural and rural development, focusing on specific practical issues raised by farmers, including some key small matters, and making sustained efforts. The goal is to make rural people feel a tangible sense of gain, happiness, and security in the process of rural revitalization. Thank you.