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Read in Chinese
Speakers:
Tang Renjian, director of the Office of the Central Rural Work Leading Group and minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Liu Huanxin, deputy director of the Office of the Central Rural Work Leading Group and administrator of the National Rural Revitalization Administration
Wu Hongyao, deputy director of the Office of the Central Rural Work Leading Group and member of the CPC Leading Group of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Chairperson:
Chen Wenjun, director general of the Press Bureau of the State Council Information Office (SCIO) and spokesperson of the SCIO
Date:
Feb. 23, 2022
Chen Wenjun:
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to this press conference held by the State Council Information Office (SCIO). On Feb. 22, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council issued a document outlining key tasks to comprehensively push forward rural revitalization this year, also referred to as the "No. 1 central document," that everyone is interested in. To help people accurately understand the principles and content of the document, today we have invited Mr. Tang Renjian, director of the Office of the Central Rural Work Leading Group and minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs to introduce and elaborate on the document and answer your questions. We also have with us Mr. Liu Huanxin, deputy director of the Office of the Central Rural Work Leading Group and administrator of the National Rural Revitalization Administration, and Wu Hongyao, deputy director of the Office of the Central Rural Work Leading Group and member of the CPC Leading Group of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
Next, let's give the floor to Mr. Tang Renjian to give a brief introduction.
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Tang Renjian:
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Spring has returned to the land and farmers are busying themselves in the fields. On Feb. 22, Xinhua News Agency was authorized to release the full text of a document issued by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council that outlines key tasks to comprehensively push forward rural revitalization this year, also referred to as the No. 1 central document. This is the 19th document in a row issued by the central government to guide the work related to agriculture, rural areas and rural people since the turn of the millennium, which shows the determination of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council to prioritize agriculture and deliver benefits to rural people. Next, I will briefly introduce the document to you.
First, the background of drafting the document.
Since last year, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, in dealing with affairs related to agriculture, rural areas and rural people, we have overcome such difficulties as the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters and got off to a good start in implementing the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025). First, we have made steady progress in agricultural production. Another bumper harvest was achieved, with the output of grain reaching 1.37 trillion jin (685 billion kg), an increase of 26.7 billion jin (13.35 billion kg). The capacity of raising hogs was restored half a year ahead of schedule, and the market supply and prices of other major agricultural products were generally stable. Second, the income of farmers maintained growth. The per capita disposable income of rural residents reached 18,931 yuan, an increase of 9.7% in real terms, and a growth rate 2.6 percentage points higher than that of their urban counterparts. Third, the gains in poverty alleviation have been consolidated and expanded. The monitoring and assistance mechanism has been continuously improved and strengthened, and the working mechanism, policy measures and institutional teams have been put in place in an orderly manner. We have maintained the bottom line of ensuring no large-scale return to poverty. Fourth, we have taken solid steps to comprehensively promote rural revitalization. The development of rural industries has accelerated, a five-year action plan on improving the rural living environment has been launched, the level of rural governance has been continuously improved, the reform of rural areas has been advanced, and rural society has been stable and peaceful. The remarkable achievements in the reform and development of agriculture and rural areas have played an important role in turning a new page, responding to changes and stabilizing the overall social development.
2022 is an important year as China enters a new era of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way and strides toward its second centenary goal. At the end of last year, General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on issues related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers. He underscored factoring in the national strategic needs when responding to multiple risks and challenges, and ensuring the steady development of agriculture and rural areas. Tough measures and strong implementation are needed in dealing with affairs related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers. He also underlined and made arrangements on key issues including food security, preventing a large-scale return to poverty, and farmland protection. These provided the fundamental principles and an action plan for drafting the No. 1 central document in 2022, and doing a good job in affairs related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers at present and going forward. In response to major changes and the pandemic, both unseen in a century, and to promote the stable and healthy development of the economy and society, we must continue to comprehensively promote rural revitalization and give better play to the role of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" as the anchor, paving the way for the 20th National Party Congress with actions.
Second, the main content of the document.
In the new era and new stage, the priority of the work related to "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" is to promote rural revitalization. Implementing the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speeches, this year's No. 1 central document does not introduce new themes or new expressions. Instead, we have adhered to the overall goal of rural revitalization, prioritized stability and pursued progress while ensuring stability. The document outlines key tasks to advance rural revitalization in 2022. It comprises 35 articles in eight parts, and the main content can be summarized as "two bottom lines, three key areas, one reinforcement."
The "two bottom lines" refer to firmly upholding the two bottom lines of guaranteeing China's grain security and ensuring no large-scale return to poverty. It emphasizes that we will do our best to enhance grain production and the supply of vital agricultural products, strengthen protections to guard the red line of 1.8 billion mu (120 million hectares) of arable land, and ensure that the sown areas for grains remain stable and the full-year grain output stays above 1.3 trillion jin (650 billion kg). The document urges efforts to improve mechanisms for monitoring and assisting people at risk of falling back into poverty, and to promote areas that have been lifted out of poverty to consolidate and expand the achievements of poverty alleviation through development and ensure that there is no large-scale return to poverty.
"Three key areas" means to promote rural development, construction, and governance in a solid and orderly way. Regarding rural development, we will focus on the integrated development of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries in rural areas and help farmers seek employment and raise their incomes locally or close to their homes. We will improve implementation mechanisms regarding rural construction and prioritize projects for farmers' well-being that provide universal access and meet farmers' fundamental and essential needs. As to rural governance, we will pay special attention to the construction of grassroots organizations creatively building effective platforms for cultural and ethical construction to maintain the safety and stability of rural society.
"One reinforcement" means sticking to and reinforcing the Party's overall leadership over agriculture, rural areas, and farmers. In addition, the document emphasizes the responsibility in promoting all-round rural revitalization and scaling up policy guarantee and institutional innovation.
In summary, this year's document emphasizes the tasks, measures, and orientation for rural revitalization. It is both detailed and practical and clarifies the priorities and tasks for promoting all-round rural revitalization in 2022.
Now, my colleagues and I are ready to answer your questions.
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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.
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CRNTT:
This year is critical for pushing forward rural revitalization in an all-round way. According to the No. 1 central document, what new arrangements have been made in terms of working mechanisms and approaches to ensure that all tasks will be carried out in an active and steady manner? Thank you.
Tang Renjian:
We have completed all poverty eradication targets and tasks. We are now turning to the new goal of advancing rural revitalization in an all-round way. General Secretary Xi Jinping said that it's a historic shift of focus in the work related to agriculture, rural areas, and farmers. We have an effective experience in our poverty alleviation efforts, that is, a sound and improved working mechanism. Therefore, we will also learn from this good experience when pushing forward rural revitalization in an all-round way.
In the new era, as I mentioned at the beginning of this press conference, the focus of the work related to agriculture, rural areas, and farmers is to advance rural revitalization in an all-round way, which is also the focus of this year's No. 1 central document. In the new era, rural revitalization and the work related to agriculture, rural areas, and farmers contain similar subjects and extend over a similar range. Therefore, they should not be separated in our practical work. At present, it is crucial to be steadfast in our work, and to use strong actions.
First, we will ensure that all duties and responsibilities are fulfilled. It is a systematic project to advance rural revitalization in an all-round way, featuring integrated arrangements. It is not a specific task for a certain department or a certain sector. It needs the combined efforts of the Party and all of society, and of all departments and localities. In the next step, we will speed up formulating measures for the implementation of the rural revitalization accountability system, clarify responsibilities of the departments of the CPC Central Committee and the central government in advancing rural revitalization, and implement the specific requirements for Party secretaries at the five administrative levels of province, city, county, township, and village, to take charge of rural revitalization, so as to pool all efforts to create great synergy. This year, we will also carry out the performance evaluation on the work to promote rural revitalization strategy for provincial Party and government leadership groups and officials. Meanwhile, we will also improve the evaluation system for officials at the levels of city and county and ensure that all the duties and responsibilities are fulfilled.
Second, we will improve our mechanisms. We will use the effective experience and practice formed in poverty alleviation for promoting rural revitalization in accordance with new needs. To be specific, our work will go hand in hand with the implementation of regulations for the country's rural work issued by the CPC Central Committee and the law on the promotion of rural revitalization promulgated last year. We will make efforts to improve an all-round promotion mechanism for rural revitalization in terms of responsibility fulfilment, organization and promotion, social mobilization, factor guarantee, assessment and evaluation, work reports, and supervision and inspection, widely mobilizing the people and bringing together the resources needed.
Third, we will improve our work style. Different to poverty alleviation, rural revitalization is a prolonged campaign rather than a tough battle, and is also a career that covers all fields and all people on all fronts. We should give up the idea of accomplishing our tasks in one battle, not set unrealistic targets, avoid eagerness for quick results by going beyond the development stage, or even aiming high and going all out at random. All these won't work. We should resolutely oppose the practice of favoring form over substance in this regard. We should work in accordance with the actual situation of different places, respect the underlying trends of rural areas, and steadily promote our work with a more mature and more well-established system. We will carry out large-scale training to study General Secretary Xi Jinping's major expositions on the work related to agriculture, rural areas, and farmers. At present, there are elections for officials at different levels, including people working at the grassroots level. Some new officials have taken office. After taking up their posts, they should learn deeply and thoroughly understand major expositions by General Secretary Xi Jinping on the work related to agriculture, rural areas, and farmers, and then make practical efforts. Therefore, we will study further by carrying out large-scale training. Only in this way can we keep to the right direction of policies, effectively improve our work style, enhance the policy level of the work related to agriculture, rural areas, and farmers and improve our working ability.
Fourth, we will strengthen the building of organizations. This year's No. 1 central document emphasizes that rural work leading groups under Party committees at all levels should undertake both the duty to consolidate and extend gains in poverty alleviation, and promote all-round rural revitalization. Now at the central level, the Office of the Central Rural Work Leading Group, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the National Rural Revitalization Administration are jointly promoting the all-round rural revitalization, under the leadership of the Central Rural Work Leading Group. What roles are each of these respective authorities playing? First, the Office of the Central Rural Work Leading Group is taking the lead in carrying out the strategy. Second, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs is responsible for coordinating different departments, as enshrined in the Law on the Promotion of Rural Revitalization. Third, the National Rural Revitalization Administration is in charge of putting measures in place. While their roles may be different, there is no way to separate them from each other. We should join together to promote rural revitalization in a well-organized and systematic manner, from different perspectives and at different levels.
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Thecover.cn:
Last year, China experienced repeated challenges from natural disasters and the pandemic. What achievements have been made in consolidating and extending the progress in poverty alleviation? And what measures will be taken to prevent a large number of people from falling back into poverty? Thank you.
Liu Huanxin:
Thank you for your attention to the poverty alleviation work. General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to consolidating the achievements of poverty alleviation, stressing that this is the premise of rural revitalization, and urged continuous efforts to ensure those lifted out of poverty can live better lives. Over the past year, we have implemented the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. Solid efforts have been made in consolidating and extending the gains in poverty alleviation and coordinating them with the promotion of rural revitalization. Our work has been in the following aspects: First, we prevented risks. The dynamic monitoring mechanism to prevent people from falling back into poverty has been established in an all-round manner. The mechanism has eliminated the risks of nearly 70% of the people monitored, and the rest of them have been provided with support measures and can get rid of the risks in the future. We have provided timely support to people that have been lifted out of poverty and then affected by natural disasters, and thus prevented them from falling back into poverty because of disasters. Second, we coordinated work. Support policies that were carried out during the course to eradicate poverty have been adjusted and optimized by category to formulate 33 policies that dovetail with rural revitalization. A total of 160 counties were listed as key counties for national rural revitalization, and favorable policies have been leveraged in 14 sectors. We ramped up eastern-western collaboration, designated assistance, and follow-up support for resettled population. We completed organization of agencies for promoting rural revitalization. Evaluation work has been carried out to ensure the work to consolidate and extend gains in poverty alleviation dovetails with that of promoting rural revitalization. Such work has been promoted in an orderly manner. Third, we boosted development. The central government arranged 156.1 billion yuan in subsidies to promote rural revitalization, which is 10 billion yuan more than the previous year, with over half of the fund invested in developing industries. Some 31.45 million people lifted out of poverty found jobs, up by 1.26 million over last year, representing an increase of 4.2%. The per capita net income of people lifted out of poverty reached 12,550 yuan, an increase of 1,810 yuan or 16.9% over the previous year. In general, we have consolidated and extended poverty alleviation progress in 2021 and ensured that people do not sink back into poverty in large numbers.
Next, we will fully implement the guiding principles laid out by General Secretary Xi Jinping and the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. Solid efforts will be made to ensure departments take their responsibilities, implement policies and carry out work to consolidate and extend poverty alleviation progress. We will work to ensure that people lifted out of poverty live a better life, and ensure that people do not sink back into poverty in large numbers. Our major work will be in the following aspects:
First, efforts will be made to improve the mechanism for monitoring and assisting people at risk of falling back into poverty. Our work will be carried out using a three-pronged approach. First, we will make it more targeted. We will carefully identify the groups that need to be monitored. All rural people at risk of returning to or falling into poverty and those affected by sudden and serious difficulties should be included in the monitoring mechanism. Second, we will provide support earlier. Those experiencing serious financial difficulties arising from housing, education, employment, illness, disaster and epidemic will be provided with support and assistance in a timely manner, so the risk of them returning to or falling into poverty will be nipped in the bud. Third, we will make procedures more simplified. We will remove the barriers that hamper the flow of data among different monitoring platforms, shorten the time and improve the efficiency of the mechanism for monitoring and assisting people at risk of falling back into poverty.
Second, efforts will be made to increase the incomes of people that have been lifted out of poverty. We will focus on providing employment support. Work on consolidating and extending gains in poverty alleviation will be driven more by development. We will prioritize the transformation and upgrading of industries. We will gradually increase the proportion of the central government subsidies for rural revitalization for industrial development. We will step up efforts to address weaknesses in technology, facilities and marketing, and increase the operating income of people that have been lifted out of poverty. We will take every step possible to stabilize employment and ensure more people lifted out of poverty can find jobs through such methods as organizing labor export, boosting employment in paired-up factories, and optimizing public welfare posts for poverty alleviation.
Third, efforts will be made to provide stronger assistance in key areas. In terms of key counties for national rural revitalization, we will compile implementation plans. We will also pool resources to build a series of projects to address weaknesses and boost development in the counties so they will gain a stronger capacity for self-development and have a more solid and sustainable foundation for poverty alleviation. In terms of resettlement areas, we will continue increasing follow-up support with regard to expanding employment, infrastructure construction and public services, so as to ensure smooth resettlement, and make sure that those involved have the means to better themselves.
Fourth, we will make efforts to promote the implementation of assistance policies in regions lifted out of poverty. We can't slam on the breaks as soon as we win the battle against extreme poverty. We need to ensure that major assistance policies will remain unchanged and keep up the support intensity to give them a leg up to get them going. Therefore, we will evaluate the effectiveness of the policies this year to promote the implementation and ensure that they can achieve results, which will ultimately provide support and guarantee for consolidating and expanding the achievements in poverty alleviation.
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China Daily:
This year's No. 1 document pointed out that strong measures shall be implemented to protect the arable land. What strong measures will be adopted regarding arable land construction and protection? Thank you.
Wu Hongyao:
This is a very important question. The arable land serves as the lifeline of grain production. General Secretary Xi Jinping has attached great importance to protecting arable land. He has made important instructions overt it on various occasions, noting that the requirements for the protection of arable land must be further clarified to ensure that China's 1.8 billion mu (120 million hectares) of farmland is a reliable figure and that all of the farmland is fertile. This year's No. 1 central document has paid more attention to the cultivation and protection of arable land, and it has rolled out a series of strong measures, which can be summarized as "ensuring quantity, improving quality, regulating the utilization and tapping into the potential."
To ensure quantity, we will firmly stick to the red line of 1.8 billion mu of arable land. Priorities lie in the following three aspects. First, we will draw redlines for designating arable land and permanent basic cropland, protecting the ecosystems and delineating boundaries for urban development. Second, we will specify the task quotas and targets that authorities at all levels need to achieve to protect arable land and permanent basic farmland, with every single piece of the land being marked with details. Third, some responsibility statements will be signed between central and local authorities, setting up specific targets for protecting arable land, which will be taken as mandatory indexes. Finally, we will ensure a stringent mechanism with a "one-vote veto" system and a lifelong accountability system.
In terms of improving quality, we will ramp up efforts to improve the quality of arable land. First, we will continue to take high-standard farmland construction as our priorities, aiming to complete the construction of 100 million mu of high-standard farmland and 400 million mu of high-efficiency water-saving irrigation areas. Moreover, we will also step up efforts to upgrade medium-and low-yield farmland to improve the fertility of arable land. Second, we will make great efforts to protect chernozem soils and further promote national chernozem soils protection projects to adopt conservation tilling techniques on 80 million mu of chernozem soils. Third, we will strengthen the entire process of regulation over balancing the occupation and replenishment of arable land, and ensure that the replenished land can be used in a long-term and stable manner, which will ensure that the capacity of the replenished land can be equivalent to those have been occupied.
In terms of regulating the utilization, we will strengthen the regulation over the use of arable land. First, those practices to turn the arable land into construction land shall be strictly limited. We will enhance law enforcement and regulation and punish those illegal practices of using the arable land for non-farming purposes. Second, we will hold tight control over converting arable land into other agricultural land. Third, we will ensure that the use of arable land should strictly follow specific priorities that they are supposed to be used. As Mr. Tang said, the arable land should be used primarily for the production of agricultural products such as grain, cotton, oil, sugar, and vegetables, as well as forage grass and fodder. The permanent basic farmland is mainly used for grain production, and all the high-standard farmland is theoretically used for grain production.
We will step up efforts to tap into the land potential to increase the quantity of arable land. We will support the practices of converting those qualified saline-alkali soil and other potential land resources into arable land in a proper and orderly manner. While protecting the ecological environment, those idle land and abandoned land suitable for development can be used to develop facility agriculture to break the resource constraints in terms of arable land, light, and heat. Thank you.
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China County Times:
One of the priorities of rural revitalization is to help boost the incomes of populations through industrial development. What are the key areas and directions in this year's No. 1 central document on promoting rural industrial development? Thank you.
Tang Renjian:
This question is crucial, as industrial revitalization stays at the top of the "five priorities" of rural revitalization. Therefore, I'd like to invite Mr. Wu to answer this question.
Wu Hongyao:
General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that thriving business is the basis for resolving all issues facing rural areas. Therefore, industrial revitalization stays at the top of the "five priorities" of rural revitalization. This year's No. 1 central document sets out precise requirements for promoting rural development by industrial development, aiming to step up efforts in three aspects.
First, efforts should be made to promote the integrated development of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries in rural areas. Rural industries have their roots in agriculture. While making farming and breeding industries stronger, we will fully engage the multiple functions of agriculture, realize the multiple values of rural areas, and develop the three major industries of farm-produce processing, rural leisure tourism, and rural e-commerce. Vertically, we will build a comprehensive agricultural industry chain, facilitate the expansion of industries to the back end and downstream, and shift the focus from selling initial agricultural products to promoting brands, with the aim of increasing production values and industrial efficiency. Horizontally, we will advance the in-depth integration of agriculture with leisure, tourism, health care, ecology, culture, elderly care, and other industries to enrich the varieties of rural industries and enhance the value of the rural economy.
Second, efforts should be made to develop county-level industries that can help boost farmers' incomes. We will develop county-level industries with obvious comparative advantages which can drive agricultural and rural prosperity and create employment opportunities to ensure that every county has at least one characteristic industry. To achieve the coordinated development of county-level industries, we will scientifically arrange production, processing, sales, consumption, and other links, locate them in the most suitable places, and form a spatial industrial layout with a reasonable division of labor among counties, townships, and villages. Meanwhile, we will leverage the role of industrial parks as the platform, guide the transfer of farm-produce processing industry to counties and main production areas, and build characteristic industrial clusters featuring close coordination between urban and rural areas.
Third, efforts should be made to help farmers get jobs and increase incomes locally or in nearby regions, which is the purpose of industrial development in rural areas. We must not make business owners better off while leaving farmers in poverty. Nor should we exclude farmers from the industrial chain. We encourage industrial and commercial capital to invest in rural areas, give play to the advantages in capital, technology, management, and brand, and improve the interest linkage mechanism to help farmers gain prosperity through complementary strengths of industrial chains and an effective division of labor. We will also support commercial organizations to provide agricultural services such as contract farming, processing, logistics, and marketing so that farmers can share more benefits from the growth of industries. Thank you.
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Economic Daily:
Last year, large areas of winter wheat were not planted on time due to the autumn floods. What impact will it have on this year's summer harvest? What measures will be taken to ensure stable and high yields? Thank you.
Tang Renjian:
This journalist has a keen insight. The questions involve the biggest challenge in our present work related to agriculture, rural areas, and farmers. It is also our chief concern now.
Due to abnormal autumn floods, more than 7.3 million hectares of autumn and winter wheat across Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan, and Shaanxi provinces were not planted on time. How long was the sowing date delayed? For around half a month. The delay affected one-third of the total acreage, which is a large scale never seen before. Thanks to careful cultivation, the acreage of winter wheat is as large as that of last year. However, the seedling growth becomes complicated and we still face grave challenges in reaping a bumper summer harvest. Summer harvest is the first of China's annual grain production, which accounts for more than a fifth of the annual grain output and 40% of its annual staple food production. Summer grain production is of great significance for ensuring supply, stabilizing expectations, and increasing confidence. Confronted by the complicated situation, we will make every effort with a strong determination to ensure a bumper summer harvest and get a good start for high grain yields for the whole year.
First, we will strengthen wheat field management. This is a fundamental task. Now it's around 100 days before the summer wheat harvest. Our first priority is to maximize yield recovery by adopting technologies and measures at the three key stages of wheat growth, namely green-up, stem elongation, and grain-fill. At the green-up stage, the critical measure is applying fertilizers to boost the growth of weak seedlings and increase the number of panicles; at the stem elongation stage, the critical measure is resisting drought and freezing to boost the growth and increase the number of grains; at the grain-fill stage, the critical measure is applying a variety of pesticides, germicides, and fertilizers to increase the weight of grains. We have provided relevant local governments with detailed information about the distribution of late-planted wheat based on the types of seedling growth, which will serve as a basis for targeted guidance. Recently, authorities of agriculture and rural affairs have mobilized large groups of personnel to concentrate on the frontline of wheat production and offer targeted services for designated regions. They are working hard to maximize the yields of wheat sown at the right time and prevent and minimize the reduction in the yields of late-planted wheat.
Second, we need to do a good job in disaster prevention and mitigation. For one, we need to prevent natural disasters. Due to the influence of the La Nina phenomenon, extreme weather is more likely to occur this year. We will focus on preventing disasters such as spring cold, late spring cold, summer drought, and floods that have a great impact on food production. We will further detail and materialize the plan for disaster prevention and mitigation to achieve a bumper harvest, and make material reserves and technical preparations as soon as possible. We will make full and good use of the disaster relief funds for agricultural production to help farmers take the initiative to avoid disasters, scientifically prevent disasters, and minimize disaster losses. For the other, we will make disease and insect pest control. Because there was a lot of rain last year and the soil moisture was good, there are advantages, but there are also disadvantages, including that the risk of pests and diseases is relatively high. Therefore, this year, crop diseases and insect pests are expected to appear more and more frequently. Wheat will mainly suffer from stripe rust, scab, etc. This year, there will also be stem rot, all because of the large amount of water. We will focus on prevention and control of these major pests and diseases, implement "integrated monitoring, general coordination, one-map command," (command the battle against pests and disease based on a smart map that integrates and shows all the visual information) and vigorously promote unified prevention and treatment, joint prevention and control, and emergency prevention and control so as to achieve the goal of rescuing food from insects.
Third, we need to do a good job in preparing for spring farming. Not long ago, the national work conference on spring agricultural production was held to fully deploy the spring plowing and preparation work. The central government is also currently studying the distribution of agricultural subsidies to support spring farming. We will take the implementation of grain sown acreage as the top priority of spring plowing and preparation work, consolidate the production of early rice and stabilize the acreage of autumn grain, ensure that the acreage of grain can be allocated to households and fields, and consolidate the acreage coverage foundation for a bumper grain harvest throughout the year. At the same time, we will work with relevant departments to ensure the supply of agricultural materials, and to schedule the demand for seeds, fertilizers, and medicines during spring plowing as soon as possible. We will speed up the efforts to introduce agricultural materials into stores and villages, stabilize the price of agricultural materials as much as possible, and strengthen quality supervision in order to meet the needs of spring plowing work. Thank you.
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China Rural Magazine:
The fifth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee proposed to implement rural development actions; put rural development in an important position in socialist modernization; optimize work, living, and ecological space; continue to improve village conditions and living environment; and build beautiful and livable countryside. Please let us know what are the new layouts and new requirements for rural development in the No. 1 central document this year? Thank you.
Liu Huanxin:
The implementation of rural development actions is a major deployment made by the fifth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, and an important carrier and key point for comprehensively promoting rural revitalization. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized that rural development must be done quickly, steadily, and persistently. The rural development action plan will be released soon. This year's No. 1 central document, on the basis of summarizing the practices of various regions, put forward clearer requirements for the implementation mechanism of rural development, focusing on the "three adherences."
The first is to adhere to the focus on the improvement of people's livelihoods that is inclusive, basic, and fundamental. A basic goal of rural development is to improve rural production and living conditions, and strive to allow farmers to gradually live a modern and civilized life in their lands. It says we don't need to set the bar too high on goals and standards, while levels, standards, and grades can be adapted to actual conditions of different places, high or low. The focus is to ensure basic functions and to solve outstanding problems. It asks to strengthen infrastructure construction in key areas such as rural roads, water supply, electricity, network, and housing security, continue to improve the rural living environment. In particular, those facilities that are beneficial to both production and life, such as rural roads, storage cold chain, and logistics facilities, should be prioritized and their construction accelerated.
The second is to adhere to the understanding that we develop rural areas for farmers. To promote rural development, we must fully respect the wishes of farmers. If farmers expect something, we have to do it quickly. If farmers are willing to do something, we should lead them to do it. If they don't want to do something, we should put it off and slow down. We should fully understand the long-term and complex nature of rural development, grasp the timeliness, scale, and effects of the work, adhere to the principle of quality over quantity, and actual effects over progress – we want good quality rather than quick pace. When doing construction based on the village, we must pay attention to the protection of traditional villages; retain the original appearance, style, shape, and texture of the village; retain the green mountains and lucid waters; and retain the nostalgia. We must not blindly demolish old villages and build new ones, or not go beyond the development stage to engage in large-scale financing, large-scale development, and large-scale construction. We should strictly regulate the village-dismiss and village-merger.
The third is to adhere to bottom-up, villager autonomy, and farmers' participation. Farmers are the main part of production and life in rural areas. In rural development, targets and tasks cannot be set from the top down. The key is to mobilize and organize farmers and give full play to the main role of farmers. What farmers should do should be left to be done by farmers themselves as much as possible, especially the things that farmers do inside their households as well as in front of and behind their houses, such as rural toilet renovation, courtyard sanitation, and greening and beautification – these are mainly farmers' own things, and we can delegate and mobilize the farmer masses to do them. The government should focus on doing things that farmers can't do or can't do well, such as creating water supply security and sewage treatment for rural toilet improvement, or the collection, transfer, and centralized treatment of domestic garbage and the improvement of the public environment of the village – the government must do these things well. Thank you.
Tang Renjian:
Mr. Liu Huanxin just gave a wonderful answer to the above question. Now I would like to conclude by making two points that I think are most important and worth our attention after more than one year of practice and implementation of the rural revitalization strategy across the board.
First, in terms of working philosophy, we should uphold the principle that rural revitalization and rural development are for rural people. Second, in terms of methodology, in accordance with the instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping, we should adopt an approach in which quantity gives way to quality, the speed of progress gives way to solid outcomes, and pursuit of quick results gives way to good results. These are the two most important points.
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Farmers' Daily, farmer.com.cn:
Rural governance has always been a focus of public concerns. What are the priorities for rural governance in the No. 1 central document this year? And what measures will you take? Thank you.
Tang Renjian:
The National Rural Revitalization Administration is in charge of concrete work regarding rural development and rural governance. Let's give the floor to Mr. Liu Huanxin.
Liu Huanxin:
General Secretary Xi Jinping has attached great importance to rural governance, stressing that we should innovate the system to achieve good governance in rural areas. Rural governance is the cornerstone of China's state governance and an important part of rural revitalization. This year, the No. 1 central document outlines three priorities for rural governance.
First, we should strengthen the development of rural community-level organizations. The success of rural areas hinges on the Party, which is our biggest institutional strength. We should focus on team-building, strengthening the function of county-level Party committees in promoting Party building at township and village levels. After the elections at township and village levels, we will carry out extensive training on the theme of rural revitalization, helping resident first Party secretaries and working teams play their role to the full. We will also strengthen the leading groups, and implement a gridded management model, digitalization empowerment and refined services. We should focus on mechanism establishment, implementing in real earnest a "4+2" system. Here, "4" means four steps: proposals should be put forward by the Party branch, jointly discussed by the village committee and the Party branch, and deliberated by Party members, and resolutions should be adopted by villagers' representatives; "2" means transparency on two levels: resolutions and implementation results should be made known to the public. By doing this, we will make sure that all the important affairs and problems at village level will be studied and discussed by village Party organizations, and their leadership over various other village-level organizations will be enhanced and improved. Meanwhile, a rural governance model which combines self-governance, rule of law, and rule of virtue will be improved under the leadership of Party organizations. We should focus on supervision, carrying out extensive disciplinary inspections for city and county-level Party committees. We will strengthen communication and coordination between grassroots disciplinary inspection commissions and committees for supervision of village affairs and ensure effective dovetailing to enhance the supervision over village officials.
Second, we should promote cultural and ethical progress. The key is to explore new ways to enable the voice and call of the Party to reach thousands of rural households in a form that is more acceptable and easily understandable to rural people. Nowadays, rural areas are still underdeveloped in culture. We will enrich the cultural life of rural people, increase the supply of cultural and intellectual products, and support farmers to actively organize and participate in cultural activities and sports. Low-cost, participant-friendly, healthy, and positive recreational activities will be introduced for rural people to enjoy — although not necessarily high-end, ostentatious ones — as long as they can produce the desired effect. We will also strengthen focused efforts to tackle problems such as high bride price, cash gift competition, luxurious funerals, and lack of family support to the elderly in order to promote a positive cultural environment in civil and neighborly communities that features good family traditions and simple and honest people.
Third, we should explore new models and new platforms. In recent years, we carried out trials and demonstrations for developing a rural governance system and explored some good approaches, including using reward points and task lists. Next, we will step up efforts to promote the application of such approaches and set up clearly detailed standards, regulated procedures, and evaluation mechanisms in order to yield solid results in rural governance and deliver tangible benefits for farmers. Thank you.
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Yicai:
In recent years, China's annual import volume of soybeans amounts to about 100 million metric tons. Although the figure in 2021 declined, the total amount was still huge. What measures does the No. 1 Central Document propose to enhance the production capacity of soybeans and oil plants? Thank you.
Tang Renjian:
Currently, despite of the status of tight balance between supply and demand of grain in China, people don't have to worry about not having enough food. There is a structural problem that China still experiences low self-sufficiency in soybeans and oil plants. Due to the improvement of living conditions and the growth of animal husbandry, China's demand for soybeans has increased remarkably, and its imports have seen rapid growth. As you mentioned, China's import volume of soybeans amounted to 100 million metric tons in 2020 and over 90 million metric tons in 2021. Currently, China's domestic soybeans can meet the need of food consumption. That is to say that our consumption of tofu and other soybean products is well guaranteed. Imported soybeans are mainly used to make edible vegetable oil and plant proteins for animal feed of husbandry. Looking forward, we will make full use of domestic and international markets and their resources to increase the supply of soybeans and oil plants. But more importantly, we need to focus on self-improvement and make more efforts on structural optimization. We need to be more determined in enhancing the production capacity of soybeans and oil plants and plant oil crops as much as we can in a bid to have more control over the edible oil security of Chinese people. We need to make efforts mainly in the following three aspects:
First, we need to proactively restore soybean planting areas in northeast China. As we know, the northeastern region is traditionally a major soybean-producing area. We will improve the policy on subsidizing corn and soybean production, support the region to carry out reasonable crop rotation of corn and soybeans and encourage farmers to plant soybeans this spring. In the meantime, some areas in northeast China, mainly those with the problem of groundwater overexploitation, can plant more soybeans by turning paddy fields into dry land. The northeastern region used to grow rice many years ago, but the conditions in some areas were not suitable. Thus, we can resume soybean planting in these areas.
Second, we need to proactively promote corn-soybean strip cropping. Instead of planting alternate rows of corn and soybeans, people often plant two rows of corn, alternating with four rows of soybeans in pilot zones. Thus, it is called strip cropping, and both plants can receive adequate natural sunlight to grow. The corn-soybean strip cropping has been piloted for many years, especially in southwestern regions like Sichuan province. Currently, there are over seven million mu (about 466,667 hectares) of strip cropping areas in China, and the planting model and techniques have grown mature basically. The biggest advantage of strip cropping is that it can solve the problem of exclusiveness between corn and soybeans because in the past, people could only plant one of them in the same area, but not the both. With strip cropping, we can make sure that corn yield does not decline on the whole and realize its stable production. Meanwhile, an additional 100 to 150 kilograms of soybeans can be harvested per mu every harvest season. This is pretty good news for farmers. This year, we plan to further promote this method and carry out corn-soybean strip cropping in suitable areas such as those along the Yellow River, Huai River, and Hai River, as well as southwest and northwest China. Still, because this method was only experimented in pilot areas and many regions are not familiar with it, we need to provide relevant assistance such as grain varieties, equipment, and techniques. With this in mind, the central government has allocated special subsidies to support . Additional funds will be taken from the commercial services sector and allocated to large-scale business entities that undertake relevant tasks so as to increase their willingness to promote corn-soybean strip cropping. Besides, we are also working to include strip cropping in the scope of agricultural insurance in some areas.
Third, we need to proactively enhance the production capacity of oil plants. There are many oil plants besides soybeans, such as rapeseed along the Yangtze River, peanuts in the northern and northwestern regions and North China, and camellia in the southern regions. All these need further development. In terms of rapeseed, the winter fallow in south China has huge potential. In 2021, more than five million mu of such fields were added, and we plan to expand more this year. As for peanuts, the key planting regions include areas along the Yellow River, Huai River, and Hai River and the agro-pastoral zone in the north, also known as regions along the 400 mm precipitation line. We need to promote crop rotation of corn and peanuts here and stabilize and expand the areas of land under peanuts cultivation. Regarding camellia, we need to focus on expanding its farming areas. Despite the substantial production potential, the output volume of camellia is very little nowadays, and we need to improve farmlands with a middle or low output. In addition, there are also other special oil plants such as sunflowers, flax, and sesame, and we need to promote their growth based on the actual local conditions.
In conclusion, with a variety of oil plans and diversified measures, we hope that China's self-sufficiency of soybeans and oil plants could see a comparatively huge improvement in five to 10 years. Thank you.
Chen Wenjun:
Since there are no further questions, today's press conference is hereby concluded. Thank you to all the speakers and friends from the media. Goodbye.
Translated and edited by Zhang Lulu, Ma Yujia, Zhou Jing, Huang Shan, Zhang Liying, Wang Yanfang, Zhang Rui, Wang Yiming, Li Xiao, Zhu Bochen, Wang Qian, Yuan Fang, Cui Can, Yang Xi, Gong Yingchun, David Ball, Jay Birbeck, and Tom Arnstein. In case of any discrepancy between the English and Chinese texts, the Chinese version is deemed to prevail.
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