Chen Wenjun:
Thank you, Mr. Tang. The floor is open. Please identify your media outlet before raising your questions.
CCTV:
Last year, the Central Economic Work Conference emphasized that primary products supply is a strategic issue. As grain is the most fundamental and key primary product, how should we ensure China's grain safety? Thank you.
Tang Renjian:
Thank you for your question. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized repeatedly that Chinese people should hold their rice bowls firmly in their own hands, with grains mainly produced by themselves. China's grain output has remained at 650 billion kilograms for seven consecutive years. We have ample supply and storage. China's grain prices have remained stable, and the market is steady, despite the sharp rise in grain prices globally and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. This proves that China has maintained food security and that we are competent and confident to hold our rice bowls firmly in our own hands.
However, this does not mean we can rest easy on grain security. From having enough food on one's table to eating well, from rice, flour, and oil to meat, eggs, and milk, Chinese people's consumption structure is upgraded all the time. However, the demand for food is still on the rise, and structural problems emerge constantly. Therefore, grain demand will remain in a tight balance for a long time, and the restraints in resources and the environment are increasing. Against this backdrop, we need to safeguard food security and conduct our work concretely and solidly. Therefore, we will work on the following three aspects.
First, we will ensure that all the duties and responsibilities are fulfilled. When it comes to food security, the principles of comparative advantage and efficiency first do not always apply in China. The central government has made clear that grain-producing areas, grain-consuming areas, and areas that have a balance in grain production and consumption now have the responsibility of securing the sown areas for grains and grain output. Grain-producing areas should improve their comprehensive capacities in producing grain, grain-consuming areas should maintain and increase their self-sufficiency rates of grain, and areas that have a balance in grain production and consumption should ensure that they can realize grain sufficiency on their own. The State Council has approved this year's grain production goals, and we have done the breakdown and informed provincial (autonomous regions and municipal) governments of their respective goals. Next, we will make sure that both Party committees and governments shoulder the responsibility of ensuring food security. We will work with the related departments to formulate plans as soon as possible to evaluate the food security responsibilities of provincial Party committees and governments to make sure that they shoulder their responsibilities in this regard.
Second, we will safeguard farmers' profits in grain production. After all, grain is produced by farmers. When farmers can make money by producing grain, the whole country's food is in safe hands. This year, we will work to improve the mechanism of guaranteeing farmers' profits in grain production and strive to make sure that farmers can break even with supportive policies and raise their income with agriculture-related businesses. On the policy front, we will reasonably raise the minimum purchase price for rice and wheat to continue implementing rice subsidy and subsidy policies for the producers of corn and soybean. We will also make sure that all rice, wheat, and corn producers in major grain-producing counties of major grain-producing provinces are covered by full-cost and income insurance. On the business front, we will focus on weak areas and vigorously develop agriculture services to raise farmers' incomes in producing grain. In all, we should make sure that farmers can make money and make as much money as possible through grain production.
Third, we will strengthen the supporting capacity of fundamental elements. It is essential to implement the strategy of sustainable farmland use and innovative application of agricultural technology for national food security. We will firmly focus on the two key elements of seeds and farmland to consolidate the material foundation of grain production. In terms of seeds, last year, we launched a large-scale survey of agricultural germplasm resources, carried out the construction of a germplasm resource bank, and constantly strengthened the intellectual property protection of the seed industry. This year, we will make good use of policies to implement the action plan on energizing the seed industry. In the aspect of farmland, we have implemented a range of strong measures to protect the farmland. Both Party and government officials should take responsibility to ensure that the total area of China's arable land stays above 120 million hectares. We will ensure that the arable land is mainly used for the production of grain, agricultural products such as cotton, oil, sugar, and vegetables, as well as forage crops. Permanent basic farmland will be mainly used for grain production and all high-quality farmland will be used for grain production in principle. We mentioned three concepts of different levels here: arable land, permanent basic farmland, and high-quality farmland. In addition, in terms of agricultural machinery equipment, we should shore up weak links by regions and varieties and strengthen the technology and equipment support for modern agriculture. Thank you.
