Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs: In 2024, the country's grain production exceeded 1.4 trillion kg for the first time, basic self-sufficiency in grain, and food rations are absolutely safe

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on September 16, the Information Office of the State Council held a press conference on the theme of “Completing the 14th Five-Year Plan with High Quality” series. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Han Jun introduced agricultural and rural development achievements during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period and answered questions from reporters. Han Jun pointed out that since the 14th Five-Year Plan, agricultural and rural development has progressed steadily, steadily, moderately and positively. In 2024, the country's grain production exceeded 1.4 trillion kg for the first time, an increase of 74 billion kg over 2020. The per capita share of food has now reached 500 kilograms, so that grain is basically self-sufficient, food rations are absolutely safe, and the country's food security is fully guaranteed.

He said that when it comes to protecting arable land, all departments are closely cooperating and strictly adhering to the red line of 1.8 billion mu of arable land. A new round of territorial spatial planning has been introduced to map arable land and permanent basic farmland protection tasks, and the amount of cultivated land is strictly assessed and held accountable. By the end of last year, the country's cultivated land area had reached 1.94 billion mu, an increase of 28 million mu over 2020.

In the animal husbandry industry, the level of modern development continues to rise, the rate of large-scale livestock and poultry farming continues to increase, and the stable and safe supply capacity for livestock and poultry products has improved markedly. At the end of last year, the total volume of livestock products such as meat, custard and milk had reached 175 million tons, an increase of 27.78 million tons over 2020, an increase of 18.8%. China's per capita annual consumption of meat and eggs reached 72 kg and 25 kg respectively, both higher than the world average; China's per capita annual consumption of milk has reached 40.5 kg, an increase of 2.3 kg over 2020.

Han Jun also mentioned that the “three rural areas” policy continues to push forward rural reforms. The benefits and coverage of the policy are getting wider and wider, and the system is becoming more mature and complete. Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, fiscal expenditure on agriculture, forestry and water services has reached 10.8 trillion yuan, reaching 2.7 trillion yuan last year. Up to now, fixed asset investment in the primary sector has reached 5.47 trillion yuan, and the balance of agricultural loans has reached 53.19 trillion yuan.

In terms of promoting the green transformation of agricultural development, the reduction in the amount of water, fertilizer, and drug efficiency is quite remarkable. Through water-saving irrigation and improved planting methods, etc., the total amount of agricultural water used in the country is declining year by year, with an average annual reduction of 3.6 billion cubic meters of total farmland water consumption. Through the implementation of measures such as green prevention and control and scientific fertilization, the amount of agricultural chemical fertilizers and pesticides applied has been declining year after year, and utilization efficiency has been steadily improving. According to estimates, in 2024, the amount of agricultural fertilizer applied nationwide was 49.882 million tons, a decrease of 5%, and the amount of pesticides used in the planting industry was 244,000 tons, 0.38 million tons less than in 2020, a decrease of 1.5%.

A transcript of the text is as follows

Shou Xiaoli, Director of the Information Bureau of the Information Office of the State Council and press spokesman:

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the press conference of the Information Office of the State Council. Today, we are holding a press conference on the theme of “Complete the 14th Five-Year Plan with High Quality” series. We are very happy to invite Mr. Han Jun, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, to introduce the achievements of agricultural and rural development during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period and answer everyone's concerns. Also attending today's press conference were Mr. Zhang Xingwang, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and Mr. Merdan Mugheti, Vice Minister.

Now, let's first ask Minister Han Joon for an introduction.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Han Jun:

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to today's press conference and thank you for your continued concern and support for the work of the “Three Farmers.” This year marks the end of the “14th Five-Year Plan”. Taking this opportunity, I would like to give you a brief introduction to the high-quality development of agriculture and rural areas during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period.

Since the “14th Five-Year Plan”, various departments in various regions have thoroughly studied and implemented General Secretary Xi Jinping's important remarks on the work of the “three rural areas”, earnestly implemented the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, anchored the goal of building an agricultural power, and solidly and vigorously promoted the key tasks of rural revitalization. It can be said that they have maintained a good momentum of steady progress, steady, moderate and positive development in agriculture and rural development, providing strong support for the high-quality development of the entire economy and society. The main achievements of high-quality agricultural and rural development in our country during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period can be summarized in the following aspects:

First, 1.4 billion Chinese people have a better job. Our grain production has reached a new level. Last year, the country's grain production surpassed 1.4 trillion kg for the first time, an increase of 74 billion kg over 2020. At present, the per capita share of food has reached 500 kilograms, so that grain is basically self-sufficient, food rations are absolutely safe, and the country's food security is fully guaranteed. At the same time, marshmallow production capacity also continues to increase. The supply of fruit, vegetables, tea, meat, custard, milk, and aquatic products is sufficient, and the variety is diverse. It can be said that now our common people's dining tables are getting richer and richer.

Second, the great achievements in the fight against poverty have been even more successful. We achieved our goal of comprehensively winning the fight against poverty in 2020. After comprehensively winning the fight against poverty, we insisted on consolidating and expanding the achievements of the fight against poverty as the bottom line task of comprehensive rural revitalization. We promoted the effective integration of relevant responsibility systems, policy systems, and work systems, established and perfected monitoring and support systems to prevent returning to poverty, and firmly adhering to the bottom line that large-scale return to poverty did not occur. At present, we have identified and helped more than 6 million monitoring targets to steadily eliminate the risk of returning to poverty, and have implemented corresponding support measures for others. Currently, the “three guarantees” (compulsory education, basic medical care, and housing safety) and drinking water safety standards for people out of poverty have continued to improve, and the number of workers employed by people out of poverty has stabilized at over 30 million over the past few years. Currently, households that have escaped poverty still rely on working outside the home. In recent years, the income growth rate of farmers in poverty-stricken counties has been higher than the average income growth rate of farmers in the country. China's successful practices in winning the fight against poverty and consolidating the achievements of the fight against poverty have been widely recognized and praised by the international community, and have contributed China's solutions and Chinese wisdom to world poverty reduction.

Third, important progress has been made in agricultural modernization. We insist on arming agriculture with modern facilities and equipment, serving agriculture with modern science and technology, and promoting the continuous improvement of the level of agricultural modernization. More than 1 billion mu of high-standard farmland have been built. At the end of last year, the contribution rate to agricultural science and technology progress reached 63.2%, the comprehensive mechanization rate of crop cultivation and harvesting exceeded 75%, and the coverage rate of good crops exceeded 96%.

Fourth, new results have been achieved in the construction of livable and workable villages in the US. All regions learn and apply the experience of the “Ten Million Project” to promote rural industrial development, rural construction, and rural governance according to local conditions, and create livable, workable and beautiful villages with various characteristics. For rural revitalization, industrial revitalization is the key. The rural industry is booming. Last year, the revenue of agricultural products processing enterprises above the national scale reached about 18 trillion yuan, and the rural habitat environment improved markedly. The penetration rate of sanitary toilets has now reached the national average of about 76%, infrastructure conditions such as water circuit and gas (meaning information technology facilities) in rural areas have improved dramatically, and the level of public services such as education, medical care, and old-age care in rural areas is constantly improving. We have vigorously promoted the construction of rural civilization and carried out the management of outstanding issues such as expensive bride prices. “Village” cultural and sports activities such as village BA, village supermarkets, and village evenings were exciting.

Fifth, farmers' income levels continue to rise. During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, farmers' income maintained a relatively rapid increase. The per capita disposable income of rural residents reached 2,3119 yuan last year, and the double income gap between urban and rural residents gradually narrowed. Last year, the income ratio of urban and rural residents fell from 2.56:1 in 2020 to 2.34:1. The trend of shrinking is very obvious.

Sixth, the vitality of rural development continues to flourish. We are further deepening rural reform. After the second round of land contracts expires, we have extended the pilot for another 30 years and carried out steadily. Standardized management of rural homesteads, land used for collective construction, and reform of the rural collective property rights system are progressing steadily. We are vigorously cultivating new types of agricultural operators. We have cultivated more than 2 million farmers' cooperatives, nearly 4 million family farms, and vigorously developed agricultural social services. There are now more than 1.1 million operating service providers nationwide, and the service area exceeded 2.29 billion mu last year. It can be said that a sound agricultural social service system has strongly promoted the organic connection between small-scale farmers and modern agricultural development.

This is a remarkable achievement of our “14th Five-Year Plan” high-quality agricultural and rural development. Looking ahead to the “15th Five-Year Plan”, the foundation for agricultural and rural development is more solid, and the prospects are brighter. We will anchor the two important goals of basically modernizing agriculture and basically having modern living conditions in rural areas by 2035. We will further strengthen the foundation, make up shortcomings, tackle problems, improve quality and efficiency, make every effort to increase agricultural efficiency, increase farmers' income, and increase rural vitality, and promote comprehensive rural revitalization and continuous new major progress in building a strong agricultural nation.

Thank you all. Next, my colleagues and I would like to answer the questions raised by our media friends.

Xiaoli Shou:

Thank you Minister Han. Let's start by asking questions. Please raise your hands.

Farmers Daily Reporter:

Minister Han just explained that in 2024, China's grain production reached a new level of 1.4 trillion kg for the first time. Excuse me, how do we stabilize production and supply, and secure jobs for Chinese people? Thank you.

Han Jun:

I'll answer that question. Among the “three peasants” issue, the food issue has always been one of people's biggest concerns. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that safeguarding the country's food security is an eternal issue. Chinese people must keep their jobs firmly in their own hands at all times, and our rice bowls should mainly contain Chinese food. This provides us with a fundamental guideline to take good care of food production.

Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, we have thoroughly implemented the national food security strategy. The expression of China's food security strategy is “focus on me, be based domestically, ensure production capacity, moderate imports, and scientific and technological support”. This is a complete statement. We earnestly implement the national food security strategy, insist on increasing production capacity, production ecology, and increasing production and income. In particular, we strengthen the storage of food in the land and technology, and consolidate the foundation of food security in all aspects. We focused on the following five areas:

The first is to increase production capacity. Firmly push forward a new round of actions to increase grain production capacity by 100 billion kg. In particular, focus on the “two key elements” of arable land and seeds, vigorously promote the construction of high-standard farmland, thoroughly implement seed industry revitalization actions, and continuously improve comprehensive grain production capacity. We have earnestly implemented General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions on “focusing on increasing grain production on a large scale”, and initiated actions to increase the yield of grain and oil crops on a large scale, and promoted the deep integration of the “four good” laws. In particular, we integrated promotion such as reasonable compact planting, precise planting, multiple spraying, and water and fertilizer integration. These are all very specific terms in agriculture. These are all very specific terms in agriculture. These technical models for increasing production on a large scale. We have selected 702 counties across the country to implement large-scale and balanced crop yield increase actions., the goal is to transform high yield in the test field When it comes to the vast farmland, the scientists have produced a high yield in the test field. How can this be turned into actual productivity in the field? This is a problem to be solved by our actions to increase the yield of grain and oil crops on a large scale. The results in this area have gradually become apparent. In the past, corn was planted more than 3,000 trees per mu of land; later, with more than 4,000 trees and more than 5,000 trees, we can dry more than 7,000 trees per mu of land in Xinjiang, so reasonable tight planting, combined with the integration of water and fertilizer, and rapid spraying, the yield increased. Last year, the country produced 394.7 kilograms of grain per mu, an increase of 12.5 kilograms compared to the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan. Yield contributed more than 60% to the increase in China's grain production, and in some years it will exceed 80%.

The second is to optimize the structure. Agriculture is not just about capturing production; it also requires an excellent structure. We adapt to changes in market demand, actively optimize agricultural production structures, improve product quality, and meet the diverse and high-quality needs of the masses. For example, we are relentlessly increasing domestic production capacity for varieties that are relatively heavily imported, such as soybean oil. Last year, soybean production reached 20.65 million tons, and the soybean self-sufficiency rate was 4 percentage points higher than in 2020; oil crop production was 39.787 million tons, and the self-sufficiency rate for edible vegetable oil increased by nearly 5 percentage points. We are vigorously promoting high-quality specialty wheat, high-quality edible rice, and the production of other high-quality products, and supply and demand have improved markedly.

The third is to enhance resilience. In recent years, natural disasters have occurred continuously, and extreme weather has occurred frequently. In particular, now the rainfall belt is falling north. When it rains, torrential rain continues, bringing new challenges to food production. We have continuously strengthened disaster warning and forecasting, vigorously promoted farmland water conservancy construction and farmland ditch remediation, and built a number of regional agricultural machinery social service centers and agricultural emergency relief centers. Now, agricultural disaster prevention and mitigation capabilities continue to improve. Sometimes there is little rainfall, but as long as there is irrigation, as long as it is high-standard farmland, and as long as it can be irrigated, the yield cannot be lost. It can be said that the climate resilience of food production continues to increase.

Fourth, guarantee profits. In recent years, the state has further improved various support policies for grain production. For example, in the past, agricultural insurance could only cover physical and chemical costs; after one mu of land was cut off, 2,300 yuan was given, then full cost insurance and then income insurance. Now the scope of implementation of the full cost insurance and planting income insurance policies for the three major grain crops has been fully covered throughout the country. We are further improving measures such as the acquisition of grain reserves. The purpose is to keep the prices of important agricultural products such as grain at a reasonable level, stabilize farmers' income from growing grain, and enable farmers to earn money by growing grain.

The fifth is to consolidate responsibility. The Food Security and Security Law clarifies the responsibilities of heads of party and government departments at all levels and departments with regard to food security. We strictly carry out assessments of shared responsibility between the party and government, including arable land protection and food security, to consolidate the responsibility of local parties and governments to focus on agriculture and harvest food. Over the past few years, China's grain area has also remained stable in terms of a high base. Last year, the country's grain planting area reached 1.79 billion mu. The area must be stabilized, and the yield must also be increased on a large scale, so as to grasp the two key points of arable land and seeds. The area planted with grain last year increased by more than 38 million mu compared to 2020. This has laid a good foundation for the steady growth of China's grain and ensuring the country's food security.

Everyone is very concerned about the grain production situation this year. Summer grain production is stable and harvest is good, and early rice production is increasing. Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs sent 18 research teams to various parts of the country to see that the area of autumn grains is steadily increasing. Judging from our research, the growth of autumn grains is normal. It can be said that there are good foundations and conditions for seizing a good harvest of autumn grains. Now in less than 20 days in the north, autumn grains are harvested on a large scale. We must use this last window of time to do our best to carry out field management work, put agricultural disaster prevention and mitigation work in place, do a good job of harvesting autumn grains, and ensure that the pellets are returned to storage. In short, we must strive to seize a good harvest of grain throughout the year and achieve the goal of annual grain production of around 1.4 trillion kg.

I will answer that above. Thank you!

Lightning News Reporter:

We have noticed that the rural landscape has changed markedly over the years. What specific progress has been made in learning and applying the “10 Million Project” experience to continue to promote the remediation and upgrading of the rural habitat environment and implement rural construction actions? Thank you.

Han Jun:

Thank you for your question. I ask Comrade Merrdan to answer this question.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Meldan Mugheti:

Thank you to this media friend for the question. The level of rural construction is directly related to the quality of life of our hundreds of millions of farmers. Since the “14th Five-Year Plan”, we have thoroughly studied and applied the experience of the “10 Million Project”, insisted on improving implementation mechanisms with the participation of farmers from the bottom up, established and implemented a rural construction task list system and project bank management system, coordinated resource elements, improved the rural habitat environment according to local conditions, and solidly promoted rural construction. The peasant masses had a greater sense of happiness, attainment and security. It is mainly reflected in the following “three improvements”:

First, the comfort of the living environment is constantly improving. The rural environment is basically clean and tidy. Minister Han just explained that the penetration rate of sanitary toilets in our rural areas has reached about 76%, and more and more peasants are using clean and sanitary toilets. The proportion of administrative villages where household waste is collected, transported and disposed of has remained stable at over 90%, and the domestic sewage treatment rate in rural areas has exceeded 45%. Through environmental remediation, many villages have bid farewell to being dirty and poor, have improved their appearance. There are more tourists, and the money bags of rural people have bulged up, achieved village beauty and village wealth, and achieved win-win development.

Second, the level of infrastructure completeness has been steadily improving. Infrastructure such as water circuits and gas communication continues to cover villages and extend to households. The total mileage of rural roads has exceeded 4.64 million kilometers, and many industrial roads, tourist roads, and resource roads have been built, which not only connect the good scenery of the countryside, but also give rise to new hopes for ordinary people to become rich. The penetration rate of tap water in rural areas has reached 94%, making it easier and more secure for ordinary people to use water. The 5G access rate in administrative villages has exceeded 90%. Delivery networks are sinking at an accelerated pace, and more peasants can send express deliveries “at their doorstep.”

Third, the convenience of public services is gradually improving. Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, the central government has successively introduced a number of strong and ambitious livelihood policies, and the level of equalization of basic public services between urban and rural areas has improved markedly. Actions to improve the development of preschool education, and projects to improve weak links in compulsory education and capacity building have been implemented in depth in rural areas, and rural school-age children have enjoyed better educational resources. 2199 counties (cities and districts) have developed close county medical communities. More than 95% of village health offices are covered by medical insurance, making it more convenient for peasants to seek medical treatment at their doorstep, and can also be directly reimbursed. In total, more than 140,000 rural mutual aid old-age service facilities and more than 16,000 rural nursing homes have been built, so the elderly can also enjoy more diverse old-age services. Thank you!

First Financial Correspondent:

We have noticed that the central government has invested heavily in protecting and improving the quality of arable land in recent years. May I ask what specific measures have been taken to protect arable land and improve the quality? How effective was it? Thank you.

Han Jun:

I ask Comrade Zhang Xingwang to answer this question.

Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Zhang Xingwang:

OK, thank you to this journalist friend for the question. Minister Han mentioned earlier when introducing the food security situation, including the state of grain production this year. In fact, arable land and seeds are indeed two key factors in food production; it can also be said that arable land is the lifeblood of food production. During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, we insisted on the “trinity” of quantity, quality, and ecology, and cooperated closely with relevant departments to fully promote arable land protection and quality improvement, and strive to consolidate the foundation of food security.

First, strictly abide by the red line of 1.8 billion mu of arable land. During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, the country introduced a new round of territorial spatial planning to map arable land and permanent basic farmland protection tasks, and strictly assess and hold the amount of arable land to account. By the end of last year, the country's cultivated land area had reached 1.94 billion mu, an increase of 28 million mu over 2020. Reform and improve the balance system for arable land occupation, insist on “using compensation”, improve the quality inspection mechanism for supplementary arable land, and ensure that balance standards are met.

Second, unswervingly push forward the construction of high-standard farmland. This is a powerful gripper for improving the quality of arable land. At present, more than 1 billion mu of high-standard farmland have been built. In recent years, the central government has continued to step up support for the construction of high-standard farmland, and investment is constantly increasing. The central government invested more than 700 billion yuan during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period. In 2024, the central government's average investment standard per mu was raised to more than 2,000 yuan. “One flat” means leveled fields, “two access” means water access, and “three upgrades” means improving land strength, yield, and efficiency. As the basic standard, construction is promoted by zoning. More than 27 million small-scale farmland water conservancy facilities, more than 10 million kilometers of canals, and more than 12 million kilometers of field roads have been built across the country. After construction, high-standard farmland has effectively improved the comprehensive agricultural production capacity, and the effect in saving and increasing efficiency is also very obvious. Many “hopeful harvest” fields with no water source foundation have achieved drought-energy watering and waterlogging, and more regions have reduced production with fewer major disasters, stabilized production from minor disasters, and increased production without disasters. Over the past few years, we have experienced all kinds of natural disasters. In the past few years, we have experienced deeply that it would be difficult to achieve such a level of food production guarantee without many years of high-standard farmland construction. At the same time, we are also strictly organizing and carrying out “looking back” on the quality of high-standard farmland construction projects and carrying out special remediation actions. This remediation action has been carried out for some time, and it is still being further deepened, that is, “sift through the sieve” of projects that have already been completed one by one, solve any problem, never protect the shortcomings, never leave the problems for later, and actually build them one by one. At the same time, improve the supervision system and long-term management mechanism for the whole process of project quality, and establish and improve the institutional system.

The third is to actively promote the management of degraded arable land. Including the black land that everyone is very familiar with and very concerned about, this “giant panda in cultivated land.” During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, we promoted measures such as farmland infrastructure construction, conservation farming, soil erosion prevention, and fertile cultivation of cultivated layers in an integrated manner, and vigorously implemented black land protection projects. In total, we protected more than 400 million mu of black land and treated 33,000 erosion trenches. The trend of “thinning, thinning, and hardening” of black land was initially curbed. At the same time, we are supporting key counties, mainly in the south, to treat acidified arable land more than 7.2 million times. After treatment, the pH value of the soil was increased by 0.5, and production capacity increased by about 10%. Zoning classification is carried out to improve the treatment and improvement of saline-alkali arable land. The two paths of “suitable land by planting” and “suitable land by planting” are combined to raise the level of comprehensive utilization of saline-alkali land.

Fourth, carry out a comprehensive soil survey. In 2022, we launched the third national soil survey. The second national soil survey was carried out in the 80s. After a lapse of 40 years, we also carried out this important survey of national conditions and national strength, and carried out a “comprehensive physical examination” of soil on about 11 billion mu of agricultural land and some unused land. The survey results are currently being formed. This survey will provide basic data support for ascertaining the country's arable land quality base and optimizing agricultural production layout. Thank you!

Cover News Reporter:

We feel that over the years, the supply at the dinner table of ordinary people has become more and more diverse, and the variety is getting richer. Excuse me, what progress has been made in implementing the big food concept and building a diversified food supply system? Thank you.

Han Jun:

I ask Comrade Merrdan to answer this question.

Meldan Mugeti:

Thank you to this journalist friend for the question. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to establish a big view of agriculture and big food. Last year, the State Council issued a special document making special arrangements and arrangements for the all-round and multi-channel development of food resources. We will work with all relevant departments in various regions to implement policies and measures, highlight scientific and technological support, strengthen factor guarantees, and strive to demand food from forests, grasslands, rivers, lakes and seas, food from facility agriculture, calories and protein from plants, animals, and microorganisms, and speed up the construction of a diversified food supply system. It is mainly expressed in the following four aspects:

The first is to vigorously raise the level of development of modern animal husbandry. The transformation and upgrading of the animal husbandry industry has been steadily promoted. The large-scale rate of livestock and poultry farming continues to increase, and the stable and safe supply capacity for livestock and poultry products has improved markedly. At the end of last year, the total volume of livestock products such as meat, custard and milk had reached 175 million tons, an increase of 27.78 million tons over 2020, an increase of 18.8%. China's per capita annual consumption of meat and eggs reached 72 kg and 25 kg respectively, both higher than the world average; China's per capita annual consumption of milk has reached 40.5 kg, an increase of 2.3 kg over 2020.

The second is to vigorously raise the level of modern fishery development. Make rational use of fishery resources, actively develop large-scale ecological fishery, scientifically develop comprehensive rice fishery cultivation, accelerate the development of deep-sea aquaculture, and build a “blue granary”. In 2024, China's total output of aquatic products has reached 73.58 million tons, an increase of 12.3% over 2020. The total production of aquatic products has continued to rank first in the world for 36 years. Currently, various aquatic products such as fish, shrimp, crab, and shellfish are rich and in sufficient supply.

The third is to vigorously raise the level of development of facility agriculture. During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, China's facility agriculture developed rapidly. The planting facility area reached 40 million mu, and the annual output of facility vegetables reached more than 200 million tons, basically achieving balanced annual supply. For example, now most of our edible fungi come from facility agriculture, and the annual output has reached more than 42 million tons, accounting for 85% of the world's production. Some facility fruits, such as strawberries, cherries, and watermelons, have been extended to meet the diverse and individualized needs of urban and rural residents.

Fourth, vigorously expand the space for agricultural development. Promote expansion from traditional crops, livestock and poultry resources to richer biological resources, accelerate the development of biotechnology and the biotechnology industry, successfully break through key core technologies, and continuously emerge new foods. Algae farming technology is at the forefront of the world, and many varieties are already on people's tables.

At the same time as the source of food development continues to expand, the nutritional health level of the food of our residents is more balanced. According to expert estimates, the intake of the three major nutrients of protein, fat, and carbohydrates by urban and rural residents is close to the level of developed countries. It can be said that now not only can ordinary people eat enough, but they can also eat better, healthier and more nutritious. Thank you!

CCTV Reporter from China Central Radio and Television:

During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, the Party and state introduced a series of “three rural areas” policies to continue to push forward rural reforms and increase support for the “three rural areas.” Excuse me, what are the main aspects of these policies? How has it contributed to the development of agriculture and rural areas? Thank you.

Han Jun:

Thank you for your question, I'll answer that question. During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, the Party Central Committee, with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core, insisted on solving the “three peasants” issue as the “top priority” of the whole party's work, earnestly implementing the priority development requirements of agriculture and rural areas, and successively introduced a series of policies to strengthen agriculture and benefit farmers. It can be said that the policy support is getting stronger and stronger. The benefits and coverage of the policies are getting wider, and the institutional system is becoming more and more mature and complete. Here, I can report accounts for everyone. Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, fiscal expenditure on agriculture, forestry and water services has reached 10.8 trillion yuan, reaching 2.7 trillion yuan last year. Up to now, fixed asset investment in the primary sector has reached 5.47 trillion yuan, and the balance of agricultural loans has reached 53.19 trillion yuan. Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, more than 10% of the country's land concession revenue has been used in agriculture and rural areas. These are all real money investments. The Party's “three rural areas” policy has brought huge benefits to hundreds of millions of farmers. In the process of Chinese-style modernization, farmers have a greater sense of attainment, happiness, and security, and the Party's “three rural areas” policy has received the wholehearted support of hundreds of millions of farmers. In summary, the policy of strengthening agriculture and benefiting farmers and enriching farmers is mainly reflected in the following four aspects:

The first is to focus on consolidating the foundation to ensure a stable and safe supply of food and important agricultural products. We highlight the “big country” of food security, improve the “trinity” support policy system for subsidies, prices, and insurance, and steadily implement arable land protection subsidies, rice subsidies, and corn and soybean producer subsidies. We have raised the minimum purchase price of wheat and the minimum purchase price of early indica rice for 5 consecutive years. The scope of implementation of the full cost insurance and planting income insurance policies for the three major food crops has achieved comprehensive nationwide coverage. These measures have stabilized farmers' basic income from growing food. Coordinate various channels of funding such as investment within the central budget, central financial subsidy funds, and especially treasury bond funds to raise the central subsidy standard for high-standard farmland construction from about 1,000 yuan per mu in the past to more than 2,000 yuan now. This has consolidated the foundation for high-standard farmland construction to withstand natural disasters.

The second is to focus on making up for shortcomings, and the level of rural infrastructure and public services is constantly improving. The state regards agriculture and rural areas as a priority guarantee area for the general public budget. Priority is given to agricultural and rural development. First, priority financial guarantees are given, and investment in rural infrastructure and public services is continuously increased. The central financial administration allocates funds to support the implementation of rural toilet reform, water supply security projects, maintenance and other projects, and the construction of rural sewage treatment facilities, village-level health rooms, early childhood education and other facilities. Use “rewards in lieu of compensation” to support the construction and maintenance of ordinary provincial highways and rural highways.

The third is to focus on improving quality and efficiency to accelerate the revitalization of rural industries. A three-year action to promote the development of the agricultural products processing industry was implemented. In 2024, the revenue of agricultural product processing enterprises above the national scale reached about 18 trillion yuan, and a large number of agricultural industry integration projects were implemented. During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, various regions were supported to build 210 industrial clusters with advantages and characteristics, 250 modern agricultural industrial parks, and 1,098 agricultural industry strong town projects, and built a number of professional villages and towns such as Apple Village, Mu'er Township, and Huanghua Town. We are vigorously cultivating new agricultural industries and formats. Currently, new industries and formats such as e-commerce, rural tourism, and leisure agriculture are booming. Last year, the country's revenue from leisure agriculture reached about 900 billion yuan. Strengthen policies and cultivate leading enterprises by industry. The number of leading agricultural enterprises at or above the county level nationwide reached 94,000, and the number of leading enterprises at the national level reached 2,250.

Fourth, focus on maintaining stability and safeguarding farmers' legitimate rights and interests. In this regard, it mainly implements the requirement that rural land contract relationships remain stable and unchanged for a long time, adhering to “major stability and minor adjustments”, and carrying out the pilot project for another 30 years after the end of the second round of land contracts in an orderly manner. Seven provinces, including Anhui and Hunan, have successively launched province-wide pilot projects, and other provinces have organized county-wide and township-wide pilot projects. Our requirements are very clear to ensure that the vast majority of farmers' original contracted land remains stable and smoothly extended. We have always emphasized adhering to the principle of voluntary payment according to law, and clearly demand that land circulation cannot be forcibly promoted by setting targets, setting tasks, or carrying out assessments; this must respect farmers' wishes. We clearly do not allow urban residents to buy farm houses or homesteads in rural areas, and strictly prohibit retired cadres from occupying land to build houses in rural areas. We have also made it clear that farmers can revitalize their legally owned vacant housing through leasing, shareholding, and cooperation in accordance with the law. The original purpose of the policy was to better protect farmers' land and property rights. Thank you!

China's “Three Farmers” released a reporter:

Modernizing agriculture requires putting in the wings of technology. Excuse me, what new breakthroughs have been made in advancing agricultural science and technology innovation in the past five years? Thank you.

Han Jun:

I ask Comrade Zhang Xingwang to answer this question.

Zhang Xingwang:

OK. Minister Han just mentioned that this summer has achieved steady and good grain production and increased early rice production. In fact, I noticed that in the process, many media friends here have also gone deep into the frontline of agricultural production, especially grain production. I think everyone will definitely appreciate that when they actually go to the frontline of agricultural production, they can feel what science and technology mean for food and agricultural modernization, and they can also deeply feel the power of science and technology. It can be said that technology is a powerful tool for building an agricultural power. The Party Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to agricultural science and technology innovation. General Secretary Xi Jinping issued a series of important instructions, emphasizing agricultural modernization. The key is the modernization of agricultural science and technology; it is necessary to keep an eye on the world's agricultural science and technology frontiers, vigorously raise the level of agricultural science and technology, and accelerate the achievement of self-reliance and self-improvement in a high level of agricultural science and technology. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has thoroughly implemented the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech and instructions, placed agricultural science and technology innovation in a prominent position, increased policy support, and paid close attention to the implementation of key tasks. The overall level of agricultural science and technology innovation in China has now entered the first position in the world. There are a few outstanding features:

First, the overall effectiveness of the agricultural science and technology innovation system has improved markedly. A relatively complete agricultural science and technology innovation system has been established from the central government to the local authorities, with more than 800 agricultural research institutes and 120,000 researchers. In order to promote these innovators to work in the same direction and complement each other's advantages, we have specially formulated policy documents to integrate scientific and technological resources to accelerate the construction of an agricultural science and technology innovation system with clear hierarchies, division of labor and collaboration, and moderate competition. Classification is being built to strengthen agricultural strategic scientific and technological strength, and an organized and systematic research mechanism is being established at an accelerated pace.

Second, key core technologies have achieved rapid breakthroughs. It is mainly reflected in the “Three Ones”: it has conquered a number of chassis technologies, discovered new genes with significant application value, such as regulating crop yield and quality, and high animal productivity, and created special sensors for independent property rights such as soil nutrient prediction and animal behavior monitoring. A number of major varieties that are urgently needed for production have been cultivated, and varieties that are urgently needed, such as high-quality high-yield rice, water-saving and disease-resistant wheat, machine-harvested corn, and high-oil high-yield soybeans, have been cultivated independently, accounting for more than 95% of the area, so that “Chinese food” mainly uses “Chinese varieties”. Self-cultivated varieties such as white feather broiler, West China beef, and South American white prawns have broken foreign monopolies, and their market share continues to increase. In fact, these specific varieties were not there before. We mainly relied on those from abroad. During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, we developed our own varieties, and our market share gradually increased. A number of advanced and suitable agricultural machinery have been developed. High-horsepower tractors, packaged cotton pickers, high-yield grain combine harvesters, and precision planters have all been successfully deployed on the production line. The hilly mountain tractors have been successfully developed, and their promotion and application has been accelerated.

Third, the deep integration of industry-university-research led by enterprises is progressing steadily. Vigorously cultivate leading science and technology enterprises in the agricultural sector, with major projects as the lead. In fact, they use the advantages of a new national system to guide enterprises to carry out in-depth scientific and technological innovation. Currently, more than 1,000 enterprises are participating in national agricultural science and technology projects under development, accounting for 51% or more of the total number of participating units. We are speeding up the implementation of the “10 Million” agricultural science and technology enterprise cultivation project led by 100 leading companies, with thousands competing for rapid growth, and 10,000 potential companies, and supporting enterprises to take the lead in establishing innovation consortia, which is to truly put into practice the requirements of integrated development of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation.

Fourth, agricultural scientific and technological achievements have been implemented on a large scale. We are continuously improving the national agricultural technology promotion service system. More than 400,000 grass-roots agricultural technology promoters across the country are active on the front line and at the grassroots level all year round, making comprehensive use of various service models such as science and technology commissioners, science and technology institutes, and expert compounds to focus on opening up the “last mile” of transformation and application of scientific and technological achievements. Focusing on leading industries such as rice, wheat, pigs, and dairy cows, the country has now built 50 modern agricultural industry technology systems to provide scientific and technological innovation services around different varieties, all links are interlinked, and cover the entire industry chain. Every year, it also selects and promotes 300 leading agricultural varieties, main promotion techniques, and major leading technologies to provide agricultural producers with a list of selectable and customized technologies to increase the technology availability rate. Thank you!

Upstream News Reporter:

Over the years, ordinary people are paying more and more attention to the quality and safety of agricultural products. Excuse me, what measures have been taken to ensure the quality and safety of agricultural products during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period? Thank you.

Han Jun:

I ask Comrade Merrdan to answer this question.

Meldan Mugeti:

Thank you to this journalist friend for the question. People take food as their first priority, and food safety first. Ordinary people pay the most attention to three meals a day. During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, we thoroughly implemented the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's “four strictest” instructions on food safety, and always took safeguarding the quality and safety of agricultural products as a political priority and a practical matter for people's livelihood. The national agricultural product quality and safety monitoring pass rate stabilized above 97.5%, maintaining the “safety on the tip of the tongue” of ordinary people.

The first is to improve the “firewall” of regulations. Promote the revision of the Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Law, strengthen supervision of producers, and strictly punish illegal use of prohibited drugs and excessive conventional drug residues, making this law truly “long teeth” and “electrified.” The new regulations revised 3,782 pesticide and veterinary drug residue limit standards, an increase of nearly 40% over the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan. The new system revised 1,373 agricultural industry standards and eliminated 491 backward standards. Currently, there are 6,471 effective agricultural industry standards, and all aspects of agricultural industry development in China have basically achieved standards to follow.

The second is to strictly control the “safety” of production. The task of eliminating highly toxic pesticides was completed as scheduled, and highly toxic pesticides have been withdrawn from agricultural production in the field. Since 2017, there has been an overall downward trend in the use of veterinary antimicrobials, and the use of growth-promoting antimicrobial feed additives has been completely discontinued, ensuring the quality and safety of agricultural products at the source.

The third is to closely supervise “one network.” Risk monitoring is carried out every year. Fruits, vegetables, tea, meat, custard, milk, fish, shrimp and crab that people eat on a daily basis are included in the scope of monitoring, and problems are traceable and dealt with in a timely manner. Implement grid management in townships, implement “regional determination, grid designation, and personnel accountability”, and promote the novel rapid detection technology for colloidal gold, so that test results for pesticide residues can be produced on the ground, making the “first kilometer” of supervision stronger. The certification system for meeting promises and standards has been fully implemented, and agricultural products are marketed with “ID cards”, compacting producers' main responsibility for quality and safety.

Fourth, play a good set of “combo punches.” Focus on the problem of excessive agricultural and veterinary drug residues strongly expressed by the public, and carry out a three-year campaign to “treat illegal, control, and promote upgrading” of edible agricultural products. Precise treatment of key problem varieties is carried out. One set of control measures for each type is encrypted, daily inspections are encrypted, and random inspections are carried out every month. In places where problems are prominent, peer-to-peer interviews are conducted to remind and urge, and to consolidate territorial responsibilities. Cases are strictly enforced and handled, and illegal acts are combated and never tolerated. Related issues have been effectively curbed, and the quality and safety of agricultural products continues to maintain a steady, moderate and positive trend. Thank you!

Xiaoli Shou:

Please keep asking. Time is the last two questions.

Elephant News Reporter:

Green agricultural development is currently receiving much attention. What measures have been taken to promote the green transformation of agricultural development during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period? How is it progressing? Thank you.

Han Jun:

I ask Comrade Zhang Xingwang to answer this question.

Zhang Xingwang:

Green is the undertone of agriculture, and promoting green agricultural development is a profound revolution in the concept of agricultural development. During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, we thoroughly implemented Xi Jinping's ideology of ecological civilization, accelerated the promotion of green production and lifestyle, collaboratively promoted pollution reduction, carbon reduction, green expansion and growth, and promoted a comprehensive green transformation of agricultural development methods. We achieved positive results. There are several main characteristics:

First, the reduction in the amount of water and fertilizer and the increase in efficiency is quite remarkable. Through water-saving irrigation and improved planting methods, etc., the total amount of agricultural water used in the country is declining year by year, with an average annual reduction of 3.6 billion cubic meters of total farmland water consumption. Through the implementation of measures such as green prevention and control and scientific fertilization, the amount of agricultural chemical fertilizers and pesticides applied has been declining year after year, and utilization efficiency has been steadily improving. According to estimates, in 2024, the amount of agricultural fertilizer applied nationwide was 49.882 million tons, a decrease of 5%, and the amount of pesticides used in the planting industry was 244,000 tons, 0.38,000 tons less than in 2020, a decrease of 1.5%. In the use of chemical fertilizer and pesticides, even a 0.1 percentage point reduction is very difficult to achieve, achieving “growing more and better food and agricultural products with less water and less fertilizer and medicine.”

Second, the level of recycling continues to rise. Vigorously develop ecological recycling agriculture, promote integrated farming and animal husbandry cycles, and raise the level of resource utilization of agricultural waste. In 2024, the recycling and disposal rate of agricultural film in China will reach 85%, and the comprehensive utilization rate of straw will reach 88% or more, which will be converted into soil organic matter, biological natural gas, silage, etc. The comprehensive utilization rate of livestock and poultry manure reached 79.4%, which is also close to 80%, an increase of 4 percentage points over 2020.

Third, the effects of resource conservation and ecological restoration are outstanding. Integrated protection and systematic management of landscape, forest fields, lake grass and sand are promoted in an integrated manner, and the stability of agricultural ecosystems continues to increase. In particular, the ten-year fishing ban in the Yangtze River has made significant progress. The number of Chinese sturgeons, Yangtze River dolphins, etc. continues to recover, and people are also seeing more and more images of “smiling angels” dolphins playing on the surface of the main tributaries of the Yangtze River. Grazing bans, grazing breaks, and grass-livestock balance systems have been fully implemented, and the comprehensive grassland vegetation cover stabilized at more than 50% during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period.

Fourth, the supply capacity for green agricultural products has been steadily increasing. Further promote the cultivation of agricultural varieties, quality improvement, brand building and standardized production, and carry out quality and safety supervision of agricultural products with the strictest standards. During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, the pass rate for routine monitoring of the quality and safety of agricultural products stabilized at over 97.5%. The total number of green, organic, premium, and geographical indication agricultural products exceeds 86,000, and more green and high-quality agricultural products are on our daily table. Thank you!

Xiaoli Shou:

One last question.

Poster News Reporter:

After winning the fight against poverty, the Party Central Committee established a five-year transition period. This year is the last year of the transition period. May I ask, what progress has been made in consolidating and expanding the results of the fight against poverty in the past five years? How were the transition tasks completed? Thank you.

Han Jun:

Thank you for your question, I'll answer that question. After winning the fight against poverty in 2020, the Party Central Committee decided to establish a five-year transition period, from 2021 to 2025. To establish such a transition period, the most important consideration is to consolidate and expand the results of the fight against poverty and achieve an effective link with rural revitalization. General Secretary Xi Jinping attached great importance to doing a good job in consolidating and expanding the achievements of the fight against poverty during the transition period, and issued a series of important instructions. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that the premise of rural revitalization is to consolidate and expand the achievements of the fight against poverty. It is necessary to continue to work hard to take the lives of people out of poverty to the next level; to support poverty-stricken counties and send them all the way to ensure that no large-scale return to poverty or new forms of poverty occur. This year is the last year of the transition period, and we have made a comprehensive summary of all aspects of our work since the transition period. Overall, since the transition period, various departments in various regions have earnestly implemented the Party Central Committee's “four without picking” requirement. What is “four without picking”? That is, the fight against poverty has been won. Poor counties have taken their hats off, poor villages have removed their hats, and poor households have removed their hats, but after removing their hats, they have taken off their responsibilities, their hats have not been removed from their policies, their hats have not been helped, and their caps have not been removed from supervision. This is called “four without picking.” Policy support and assistance efforts have continued to be strengthened, the living standards of people out of poverty have been further improved, and the economic vitality and momentum of poverty-alleviation regions have been further strengthened. It can be said that the results of the fight against poverty have actually been consolidated and expanded. The main achievements can be summarized in the following three aspects:

First, we have firmly adhered to the bottom line that no large-scale return to poverty will occur. This is the bottom line task of rural revitalization. We insist on precise assistance, comprehensively establish and improve monitoring and support mechanisms to prevent returning to poverty, and continuously enrich the “toolbox” of support policies. These households out of poverty, including those at risk of returning to poverty, have received an average of 3-5 items of support in the “toolbox”. We have improved measures such as industry rewards, employment support, health insurance subsidies, employment subsidies, and rural public welfare jobs, and achieved early detection, early intervention, and early assistance. By the end of July this year, we had provided accurate assistance to more than 6 million people who were monitored and identified as being at risk of returning to poverty, eliminating the risk of returning to poverty. This number is changing every month. There are also people who have not completely eliminated the risk of returning to poverty, and we have all implemented corresponding support measures.

Second, it has strengthened the motivation for endogenous development of people out of poverty. Our fight against poverty, including consolidating and expanding the achievements of the fight against poverty, has always emphasized adhering to the combination of development-based support and underwriting security, but the emphasis should be on development-based support as the main focus. We are strengthening “wisdom and wisdom” with the aim of enhancing the endogenous motivation for the development of people out of poverty. We are classifying and promoting the support industry to improve quality and efficiency, and improve the agricultural cooperation mechanism. Currently, more than 85% of households that have escaped poverty and monitored households have received at least one industrial support policy. We are further promoting actions to prevent people from returning to poverty and employment. Since the “14th Five-Year Plan”, the number of laborers working to get out of poverty has remained above 30 million every year. This must be stabilized, because their income mainly comes from migrant workers and employment. We have given full play to the role of the “four forces” of East-West collaboration, targeted assistance, village-based support, and social support. Eight eastern provinces and cities, 310 central units, more than 6,000 enterprises, and nearly 300 social organizations have made efforts to consolidate and expand the achievements of the fight against poverty, which can be said to have formed a strong atmosphere for the whole society to participate in support.

Third, it has promoted the economic and social development of poverty-stricken regions. The transition period identified key support counties for rural revitalization in 160 countries. These counties all originally had a poor foundation. We will focus on these 160 countries' key support counties for rural revitalization, as well as 35,000 centralized relocation and resettlement areas to strengthen preferential support. The central financial administration has specially arranged subsidy funds to promote rural revitalization. This is the special fund for poverty alleviation in the past; now it is called the Linked Rural Revitalization Subsidy Fund. The cumulative investment since the “14th Five-Year Plan” has reached 85.5 billion yuan. This is real money support. The level of infrastructure and public services such as transportation, water conservancy, telecommunications, education, health, and culture in poverty-alleviation regions has been further improved. Development momentum continues to increase, and high-quality economic and social development has also achieved new results.

Practice has fully proved that the decision of the Party Central Committee, with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core, to establish a five-year transition period is completely correct, and that the monitoring and support mechanism we have established to prevent the return to poverty and causing poverty is effective. China won the fight against poverty, and we spent another five years consolidating and expanding the results of the fight against poverty. This successful practice proved to the world that poverty can be overcome, and that it can be stopped and not relapsed. This is an important experience for China.

At the same time, we also need to clearly recognize that the foundations of regions that have been lifted out of poverty are still relatively thin and the foundation is still relatively weak, and the risk that some people will return to poverty and become poor will persist for a long time. In the next step, we will continue to carry out normalized assistance in accordance with the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee, adhere to the combination of development-based support and underwriting guarantees, and maintain the bottom line that large-scale return to poverty does not occur for a long time and permanently.

I will answer that above. Thank you!

Xiaoli Shou:

Thank you Minister Han, thank you to all the publishers, and thank you to all the reporters and friends. That's all for today's press conference. Bye everyone!

This article was selected from “China Net”, editor of Zhitong Finance: Jiang Yuanhua.