Read in Chinese

Speakers:

Mr. Han Jun, secretary of the leading Party members group of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA)

Mr. Zhang Xingwang, vice minister of agriculture and rural affairs

Mr. Wang Lejun, chief livestock officer of the MARA

Chairperson:

Ms. Shou Xiaoli, director general of the Press Bureau of the State Council Information Office (SCIO) and spokesperson of the SCIO

Date:

July 24, 2024

Shou Xiaoli:

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to this press conference held by the State Council Information Office (SCIO), as part of the series "Promoting High-Quality Development." Today, we have invited Mr. Han Jun, secretary of the leading Party members group of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA), to brief you on relevant developments and answer your questions. Also present today are Mr. Zhang Xingwang, vice minister of agriculture and rural affairs; and Mr. Wang Lejun, chief livestock officer of the MARA.

Now, I'll give the floor to Mr. Han for his introduction.

Han Jun:

Ladies and gentlemen, friends from the media, good morning. Thank you for attending today's press conference and for your continued support of the agricultural and rural work. This is my first press conference since taking office at the MARA, and I am delighted to have this chance to speak with you today. I will update you on the high-quality development in the work relating to agriculture, rural areas and rural residents.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has given top priority to matters related to agriculture, rural areas and rural residents. We have triumphed in the fight against poverty, implemented the rural revitalization strategy, secured historic achievements and seen historic changes in our agricultural and rural sectors. Agricultural departments at all levels have borne in mind the country's most fundamental interests, rigorously applied the instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping on agriculture, rural areas and rural residents, and consistently implemented the strategies set forth by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. We have tirelessly strengthened national food security and promoted stable and qualitative growth in agriculture and rural development. We have made solid progress in building up China's strength in agriculture, and all-around rural revitalization has continuously achieved new results, providing strong support for economic recovery and high-quality development.

We are fully committed to ensuring the stable and secure supply of grain and important agricultural products, ensuring that the food supply of over 1.4 billion Chinese people remains firmly in our own hands. By implementing the strategy of sustainable farmland use and innovative application of agricultural technology for national food security, China's grain production has remained stable at over 1.3 trillion jin (650 million metric tons) for nine consecutive years, reaching 1.3908 trillion jin last year, with a per capita grain possession of 493 kilograms. This year's grain production, especially the summer harvest, has been bountiful, increasing by 7.25 billion jin to 299.56 billion jin, setting a new historical high. Particularly in recent years, we have focused on enhancing soybean production, which has improved our self-sufficiency rate by nearly 4 percentage points over two years. The supply of cotton, oil, sugar, meat, eggs, dairy, aquatic products, fruits, vegetables and tea is plentiful, with an increasing number of green, high-quality agricultural products making their way onto the dining tables of our citizens.

We have continued to consolidate and expand the achievements of poverty alleviation, firmly guarding the bottom line of preventing a large-scale return to poverty. During the transition period, we have maintained stable assistance work and policies, continuously consolidating and improving the results of rural compulsory education, basic medical care, housing safety and drinking water safety. We have effectively operated the dynamic monitoring and assistance mechanism to prevent people returning to poverty, focusing on strengthening industrial and employment assistance, and there has been no large-scale return to poverty.

We have vigorously improved agricultural technology and facilities, consistently elevating the modernization of agriculture. The contribution rate of agricultural technological progress has exceeded 63%, with the mechanization of the entire production processes of three staple crops (wheat, rice and corn) basically realized, as well as significant innovations in agricultural technology. We have built over 1 billion mu (about 66.67 million hectares) of high-standard farmland and significantly bolstered our disaster prevention and resistance capabilities. The 10 year fishing ban on the Yangtze River has shown significant results.

We have coordinated the promotion of rural development and governance, and the construction of a beautiful and harmonious countryside for people to live and work in has steadily advanced. We have extended infrastructure and public services into rural areas. Sanitary toilets are used by 75% of rural households. All towns, townships, and villages where conditions permit are now connected by paved roads. Tap water coverage in rural areas reaches 90%. More than 90% of administrative villages have access to 5G. The level of basic public services such as education, medical care and elderly care has continuously improved, and rural residents' self-organized cultural activities are rich and colorful. With rural revitalization, the vast number of rural residents have a greater sense of gain, happiness and security.

We have persistently deepened reforms to continuously stimulate the vitality of agricultural and rural development. We have adhered to consolidating and improving the basic rural operation system, continuously improving the reforms to separate rural land ownership rights, contract rights and use rights for contracted land, ensuring that the nature of public ownership of land does not change, the red line of arable land is not broken, and the interests of farmers are not harmed. The development of suitably scaled-up operations of land and trials to extend rural land contracts by another 30 years upon the expiration of second-round contracts are steadily underway. We have obtained a general picture of rural collective assets, and are now vigorously cultivating new types of agribusinesses, with more than 2.2 million farmers' cooperatives and nearly 4 million family farms. We have improved specialized agricultural services, continued to make good use of rural "specialty products," accelerated the integration of primary, secondary and tertiary industries in rural areas, vigorously cultivated new rural industries and new business forms, steadily promoted the granting of permanent urban residency to eligible people who have moved to cities from rural areas, and continuously created more channels for rural residents to find employment and increase their incomes. In 2023, the per capita disposable income of rural residents reached 21,691 yuan, and the income gap between urban and rural residents narrowed to a ratio of 2.39-to-1 from 2.81-to-1 in 2013. In the first half of this year, the per capita disposable income of rural residents was 11,272 yuan, an actual increase of 6.6%, 2.1 percentage points higher than the income growth rate of urban residents.

Gratifying achievements have been made in agricultural and rural development over the years. We owe these achievements to the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core and the sound guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. The third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee has outlined systematic plans for the key tasks of agricultural and rural reform and development. The MARA will adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, implement the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, focus on building a strong agricultural sector, and take solid steps to deliver work related to all-round rural revitalization. By doing so, we will write a more splendid chapter on agriculture, rural areas, and rural residents on the new journey.

Next, my colleagues and I will be happy to answer your questions.