Agriculture, rural communities, and farmer-related issues have been the highlights of China’s “No. 1 Central Document” for the 14th year in a row. This year, the policy document was jointly released by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Sunday.
It targets an increase of farmers’ income and guarantees an effective supply on the basis of national food security.
The significance of supply-side structural reform in agriculture is reiterated to cultivate new development engines for the sector. According to the document, the major problems confronting the sector are structural ones, mainly on the supply side.
The document has six sections calling for optimizing the structure within the industry, promoting green and sustainable production modes, extending the sector’s industrial and value chain, boosting innovation to drive agricultural modernization, consolidating shared rural development, and enhancing rural reforms.
It also emphasizes the long process of agricultural structural reform in the face of major challenges, like how to handle relations between the government and market, as well as how to coordinate the interests of all stakeholders.
China’s grain output dropped slightly in 2016, which was partly due to structural adjustment, ending a 12-year rising streak. The yield stood at about 616 million tons, down by about 5.2 million tons, or 0.8 percent year-on-year, according to Xinhua News Agency.
The “No. 1 Central Document” is a traditional title given to the first policy statement released by the central authorities in the year. It is seen as an indicator of the country’s policy priorities.
-Source: CGTN
