Developing modern agriculture is the Chinese government's top
priority in building a new socialist countryside, according to a
central government document released on Monday.
The document, jointly released by the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of China and the State Council, is dubbed the No.1
central government document. It is the first set of major policies
to be released this year and focuses on rural development for the
fourth consecutive year.
"Developing modern agriculture has proven to be the basic
channel through which farmers' incomes can be increased," said the
document.
Last year, the per-capita income of Chinese farmers stood at
3,587 yuan (US$460), less than one third of the level of urban
residents.
To bridge the wealth gap, the central government said it would
pump more money into rural areas. "Most of the fixed-assets
investment and money earmarked for education, public health and
culture this year should go to rural areas," the document said.
"Local governments should also channel more money it earns from
selling land use rights to the countryside," it said.
The document advocated the establishment of a mechanism to
secure stable sources of capital from both government and financial
institutions.
Both the central and local governments should allocate special
funds to support the processing of farm produce, which is higher
value-added than land-intensive farming, it noted.
"The livestock breeding industry has a direct bearing on the
lives of the general public ... Governments at various levels must
strengthen its control over fodder quality," it said, urging more
money to be spent on subsidizing the breeding of fine dairy cattle
and the prevention and control of animal epidemics.
The central government will also make greater efforts to equip
the agriculture industry with modern technology this year.
"China will continue to focus on improving the quality of
farming and raise the utilization rate of the land and other
natural resources in rural areas," it said.
The country will also stick to the principle of self-reliance in
food provision and gradually build a stable, well-controlled and
highly-efficient food safety guarantee system.
In 2006, China produced more than 490 billion kilograms of
grain, only 1 percent increase on the 2005 figure, but nevertheless
an increase in output for the third straight year.
The Study Times, a
newspaper affiliated to the Party School of the Central Committee
of the Communist Party of China, predicted that China could face
the possibility of a 4.8 million ton grain shortage in 2010, almost
9 percent of the country's grain consumption.
To prevent a shortfall in grain crops, the government said it
would strive to stabilize the total area of arable land, raise the
per-unit output?and improve farm produce quality.
The government also said it would tightly monitor the
production, consumption, inventory, imports and exports of farm
produce to secure market stability.
Last November, China's grain prices went up 4.7 percent on
average, and are expected to rise 6 percent this year.
One of the top targets for this year is to "establish an
efficient market surveillance system to be alert to risks of grain
shortfall", said the document.
(Xinhua News Agency January 30, 2007)