Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the need to make improving agricultural production capacity a more important task as part of remarks to delegates at the country’s annual legislative conference.
Xi made the remarks on Sunday when participating in a meeting of national political advisors from the agriculture sector, who are attending the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
Ensuring the supply of key agricultural products, especially grain, was the top priority in rural revitalization, Xi said.
China has fed nearly one-fifth of the world population with 9 percent of the world’s arable land and 6 percent of freshwater resources, Xi said. It is erroneous to think that food supply is no longer a problem in an industrialized society, or to count on the global market to solve the issue of food security, he added.
Xi underscored keeping the annual grain output at over 650 million tonnes and “filling the rice bowl of Chinese people mainly with Chinese grain.” Curbing food waste is a long-term task that requires unremitting efforts, he said.
Calling farmland the foundation of ensuring sustainable development for the Chinese nation, Xi underscored cultivating 1 billion mu (about 66.67 million hectares) of high-standard farmland and ensuring the area of farmland remains above 120 million hectares.
The ultimate solution to safeguarding food security lies in enhancing science and technology, Xi said.
Reiterating his previous remarks on the subject, Xi noted that germplasm resources security is closely related to national security, adding that China must strengthen its seed industry to achieve self-reliance. The goal is to keep the country’s germplasm resources independent and controllable.
He also stressed the importance of ensuring the effective supply of meat, vegetables, fruits and aquatic products and other kinds of food in addition to grain.
Efforts should be made to develop biotechnology and bio-industry, actively promote the agricultural supply-side structural reform and develop various food varieties, according to Xi.
