BEIJING: Chinese officials said guaranteeing national food security, improving the development of rural industries, strengthening rural construction and deepening rural reform are among top priorities for 2024.
The comments were made at a news conference in Beijing on Sunday, one day after China published the “No. 1 central document” for 2024, which outlines the yearly priorities for achieving rural revitalization.
Han Wenxiu, executive deputy director of the Office of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission, pointed out the “No. 1 central document” for 2024 anchored the goal of building up China’s strength in agriculture, focused on the theme of promoting the comprehensive rural revitalization and was guided by the experience of “Thousand Villages Demonstration and Ten Thousand Villages Renovation” project.
Stressing the “No. 1 central document” clarified what and how to promote rural revitalization, Han, who is also director of the Office of the Central Rural Work Leading Group, summarized three main points of the document as “two ensures,” “three improvements” and “two strengthens.”
The document underlines the effort to ensure the nation’s food security and ensure that people do not sink back into poverty in large numbers, Han said, adding China will ensure that the country’s annual grain output remains over 1.3 trillion jin (650 billion kg).
“The key to avoiding a large-scale return to poverty is to implement monitoring and assistance to prevent a return to poverty, strengthen industry and employment assistance, and strive to enhance the endogenous development momentum of poverty-stricken areas along with the people who have been lifted out of poverty,” He noted.
According to Han, the three “improvements” means the document calls for improving the level of rural industrial development, the level of rural construction and the level of rural governance. “The focus of improving the level of rural construction is to continuously improve rural infrastructure, the living environment and public services, based on the actual conditions of various places and the needs of farmers,” said Han. –The Daily Mail-CGTN news exchange item
