Han Changfu: Thoroughly Study and Implement the Spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee and Accelerate
The Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Party deliberated and adopted the "Recommendations of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development." The "Recommendations" clearly state that agricultural modernization is the foundation for building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and achieving modernization. We must vigorously advance agricultural modernization and promote the synchronized development of new industrialization, informatization, urbanization and agricultural modernization. This is a major strategic deployment made by the Party Central Committee with an eye on the overall situation of socialist modernization and in response to new challenges in agricultural development. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that without agricultural modernization, without rural prosperity and strength, and without farmers living and working in contentment, national modernization would be incomplete, not comprehensive and not solid. At present, our country is in a critical period of transition from traditional agriculture to modern agriculture. Accelerating the transformation of the agricultural development model is the main task and basic path for advancing agricultural modernization during the “13th Five-Year Plan” period. We must focus on building a modern agricultural industrial system, production system and management system, and take a path of agricultural modernization featuring efficient output, safe products, resource conservation and environmental friendliness.
I. Our country has reached the stage where it must accelerate the transformation of the agricultural development model
During the “12th Five-Year Plan” period, the construction of modern agriculture in our country was accelerated. Overall agricultural production capacity reached a new level. Grain production climbed two 100-billion-jin steps in five years, and in 2014 total grain output reached 1,214.2 billion jin, remaining above 1,200 billion jin for two consecutive years. At the same time, cotton, oil, sugar, fruit, vegetables, tea, meat, eggs, milk and aquatic products developed steadily. New breakthroughs were made in modern agricultural construction. In 2014, the contribution rate of agricultural scientific and technological progress exceeded 56%, improved varieties of major crops, especially grain crops, basically achieved full coverage, the comprehensive level of mechanization for cultivation, sowing and harvesting exceeded 61%, and the proportion of effectively irrigated farmland exceeded 52%. New progress was made in building the agricultural management system. Land transfer advanced in an orderly manner, appropriately scaled agricultural operations developed steadily, and new types of agricultural operating entities gradually grew stronger. By the end of 2014, there were more than 870,000 family farms nationwide, farmers' cooperatives reached 1.28 million, and the area of rural land transferred accounted for more than 30% of contracted household farmland. Farmers' income reached a new level, with growth for five consecutive years higher than the growth rates of GDP and urban residents' income. The urban-rural income ratio fell from 3.33:1 at the end of the “11th Five-Year Plan” period to 2.92:1 in 2014. Against the backdrop of increasing downward economic pressure, the favorable agricultural situation became the “stabilizing anchor” for sustained and healthy economic and social development.
The “13th Five-Year Plan” period is the decisive stage for building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. We must clearly recognize that the development of agricultural modernization still lags relatively behind and faces many challenges, manifested in “three increasingly prominent” issues. First, the constraints of agricultural resources and the environment are increasingly prominent. Problems such as the reduction in the quantity of cultivated land, decline in quality, overexploitation of groundwater and worsening agricultural non-point source pollution have become increasingly evident. The string of resource factors is being pulled tighter and tighter, and the agricultural ecological environment has shown a “red light.” In particular, after the problem of food and clothing has been solved, the public's demands for the ecological environment and the quality of agricultural products are growing higher and higher. Second, the problem of imbalance in the agricultural production structure is increasingly prominent. The regional layout of agriculture and resource endowments are not fully matched, with the north-to-south grain transport and south-to-north water diversion coexisting; the structure of grain, cash crops and feed is unreasonable, with increased inventories of some agricultural products coexisting with increased imports; the integration of planting and breeding is not close and circular flows are not smooth, with declining soil fertility coexisting with livestock and poultry manure not being effectively utilized; and production, processing, distribution and consumption are disconnected, with the entire agricultural industrial chain not yet formed. Third, the problem of low quality and efficiency in agricultural development is increasingly prominent. Agricultural production costs are in an “upward channel,” and international prices of bulk agricultural products are already lower than domestic ones to varying degrees. Under the double squeeze of the cost “floor” and the price “ceiling,” the comparative returns of agriculture have continued to decline. The trends of part-time farming and aging farmers are obvious, and the problems of “who will farm the land” and “how to farm the land” are very prominent.
During the “13th Five-Year Plan” period, in accordance with the requirements of the “Recommendations,” we must firmly establish the new development concepts of innovation, coordination, greenness, openness and sharing, accelerate the transformation of the agricultural development model, and promote agricultural development from focusing mainly on quantitative growth to placing equal emphasis on quantity, quality and efficiency, from relying mainly on input of material factors to relying on scientific and technological innovation and improving the quality of the workforce, and from relying mainly on exhausting resources and increasing consumption to sustainable development, so as to raise agricultural quality, efficiency and competitiveness and bring the overall grain production capacity, the level of agricultural product quality and safety, the utilization rate of agricultural resources and farmers' income to new levels.
II. Key tasks for accelerating the transformation of the agricultural development model
The “Recommendations” make comprehensive arrangements for accelerating the transformation of the agricultural development model. Starting from our country's national and agricultural conditions, we must identify the focal points of our work and grasp them firmly and effectively.
(1) Pay greater attention to improving grain production capacity and tap new potential for increasing grain output. With the increase in total population, the rise in the proportion of urban population, the improvement of residents' consumption levels and the expansion of industrial uses of agricultural products, demand for agricultural products in our country shows a rigid growth trend. According to expert forecasts, by 2020 our country's grain demand will be about 1,400 billion jin, leaving a gap of about 200 billion jin. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that the rice bowl of the Chinese people must always be held firmly in our own hands, and that bowl must mainly contain Chinese grain. We must take steadily improving grain production capacity as the primary task in accelerating the transformation of the agricultural development model. Grain output can be adjusted according to market demand, but grain production capacity must be ensured, consolidated and improved. We must adhere to the strictest farmland protection system, firmly hold the red line of cultivated land, comprehensively designate permanent basic farmland, explore pilot projects for crop rotation and fallow systems, implement the strategy of storing grain in the land and in technology, and ensure “basic self-sufficiency in grains and absolute security of staple food.” At present, low- and medium-yield farmland accounts for about 2/3 of our country's total, and most of it still depends on the weather. We must vigorously advance land improvement, the transformation of low- and medium-yield farmland and the construction of high-standard farmland, and build 800 million mu of high-standard farmland by 2020.
(2) Pay greater attention to optimizing the agricultural structure and cultivate a modern agricultural industrial system. Modern agriculture must be oriented by market demand, realize regionalized layout and specialized production, and promote coordinated grain, cash crop and feed production, integration of farming, animal husbandry and fisheries, integration of planting, breeding and processing, and deep integrated development of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries. We must explore the establishment of grain production functional zones and production protection zones for important agricultural products, strengthen the construction of main production areas for grain and other bulk agricultural products, promote the building of core production areas in main production areas, and increase equalizing transfer payments to main agricultural product production areas and key ecological function areas. We must give full play to the comparative advantages of all regions, develop adaptive agriculture according to local conditions, grow grain where grain is suitable, cash crops where cash crops are suitable, grass where grass is suitable, livestock where livestock is suitable, and fisheries where fisheries are suitable, and improve the match between agricultural industry development and resources and the environment. We must develop the multiple functions of agriculture, advance the construction of agricultural industrial chains and value chains, improve the overall efficiency of agriculture, and let farmers share more of the value-added returns of the secondary and tertiary industries.
(3) Pay greater attention to the quality and safety of agricultural products and ensure “safety on the tip of the tongue.” Quality and safety are an important hallmark of modern agriculture. In recent years, the level of agricultural product quality and safety in our country has risen steadily and is generally improving. At present, the monitoring pass rate for major agricultural products has remained above 96%, but in some places and fields hidden problems remain relatively prominent. We must insist on grasping both “producing it well” and “managing it well,” and doing both firmly. “Producing it well” mainly means advancing agricultural standardization, building a large number of agricultural standardized production bases, creating a large number of well-known agricultural product brands, and safeguarding the quality and safety of agricultural products from the source. “Managing it well” mainly means improving the whole-process supervision system for agricultural product quality and safety from farm to table, carrying out traceability pilot projects for quality and safety, intensifying comprehensive law enforcement and special rectification, and doing a good job in activities to create agricultural product quality and safety counties.
(4) Pay greater attention to scientific and technological innovation and enhance overall agricultural production capacity. Accelerating the transformation of the agricultural development model fundamentally depends on innovation-driven development and giving full play to the multiplier effect of science and technology. We must accelerate the establishment of a modern agricultural scientific and technological innovation system and advance the transformation of achievements and technological extension. We must vigorously develop the modern seed industry, make integrated breeding, propagation and promotion seed enterprises bigger and stronger, actively advance the construction of national-level breeding and seed production bases, and mobilize the enthusiasm of scientific researchers for innovation through reform. We must accelerate agricultural mechanization, carry out deep loosening and land preparation operations, focus on breaking bottlenecks such as mechanized rice transplanting, mechanized rapeseed sowing and harvesting, and mechanized harvesting of cotton and sugarcane, and advance full-process mechanization in the production of major crops. We must advance agricultural informatization, carry out the “Internet+” modern agriculture action, implement the project of bringing information into villages and households, and accelerate the demonstration and application of the agricultural Internet of Things. We must cultivate new-type professional farmers and build a high-quality team of modern agricultural production and operators.
(5) Pay greater attention to the protection and governance of the agricultural ecological environment and realize sustainable agricultural development. Resource conservation and environmental friendliness are the basic requirements of modern agriculture. We must vigorously develop water-saving agriculture, advance water saving through engineering, varieties, agronomy, management and pollution control, improve agricultural water use efficiency, and by 2020 expand effectively irrigated area to 1 billion mu under the condition that total agricultural water use does not increase. We must intensify prevention and control of agricultural non-point source pollution, promote reduced use of pesticides, chemical fertilizers and agricultural film, coordinate rural drinking water safety, water and toilet improvement, and sewage and garbage treatment, advance the resource utilization and harmless treatment of planting and breeding waste, and strive to achieve zero growth in the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides by 2020, with livestock and poultry manure, crop straw and agricultural film basically achieving resource utilization.
(6) Pay greater attention to innovation in operating methods and promote higher agricultural efficiency and higher farmers' income. This is the source of momentum for transforming the agricultural development model.
We must stabilize the rural land contracting relationship, advance the orderly transfer of land management rights, develop various forms of appropriately scaled operations, and give play to their leading role in modern agricultural development. New types of agricultural operating entities are the new force and leading force in developing modern agriculture. We must build a policy system for cultivating new types of agricultural operating entities, vigorously develop agricultural socialized services, and actively promote service forms such as cooperative, trusteeship and order-based services. “New operating entities + socialized services + appropriately scaled operations” is an important path for developing modern agriculture.
(7) Pay greater attention to coordinating the two markets and two types of resources and improve agricultural competitiveness. This is an objective requirement for accelerating the transformation of the agricultural development model. We must appropriately increase imports of agricultural products according to domestic needs, strengthen regulation of agricultural product imports and exports, grasp well the scale and pace of agricultural product imports, actively support exports of advantageous agricultural products, and achieve effective allocation of domestic and foreign resources and coordinated use of domestic and foreign markets. We must advance agricultural opening-up, strengthen agricultural foreign cooperation, seize the major strategic opportunity of the “Belt and Road” initiative, and accelerate the cultivation of internationally competitive agricultural enterprise groups.
III. Ensure solid progress in transforming the agricultural development model
To accelerate the transformation of the agricultural development model, we must adhere to correct principles. First, adhere to market orientation, strengthen the guidance of market information, and use market methods to guide and organize agricultural production. Second, proceed from reality, and according to the resource endowments, industrial foundations and market conditions of each place, adapt measures to local conditions and guide development according to circumstances. Third, uphold the principal position of farmers, respect farmers' wishes and operational autonomy, and give full play to their initiative and creativity. Fourth, uphold reform and innovation, remove institutional and mechanism obstacles constraining agricultural and rural development, and stimulate internal momentum.
Transforming the agricultural development model cannot be separated from policy support. We must accelerate the establishment and improvement of an agricultural support and protection system to provide strong support for transforming the agricultural development model.
First, continuously increase agricultural investment. This is a common practice among countries around the world, especially developed countries. We must insist that investment in “agriculture, rural areas and farmers” only increases and does not decrease, and accelerate the establishment of a mechanism for stable growth of investment. We must optimize the structure of fiscal expenditures supporting agriculture, focusing on supporting agricultural infrastructure construction, agricultural structural adjustment, sustainable agricultural development, agricultural scientific and technological progress, and innovation in agricultural operating methods.
Second, improve agricultural subsidy policies. We must give full play to the guiding role of subsidy policies, maintain the continuity and stability of agricultural policy, gradually expand the scale and scope of implementation of “green box” policies, adjust and improve “amber box” policies, and accelerate the establishment of a subsidy policy system compatible with the transformation of agricultural development methods. We must promote the tilting of newly added subsidies toward new operating entities and main production areas, establish a subsidy system that encourages green development, carry out pilot projects for converting grain to feed and combining planting with breeding, improve the systems of benefit compensation for major grain-producing areas, compensation for farmland protection and ecological compensation, and improve the effectiveness of agricultural subsidy policies.
Third, reform the price formation mechanism for agricultural products. We must focus on giving play to the role of the market in price formation, continue to implement the minimum purchase price policy for rice and wheat, improve the temporary purchase and storage policy for important agricultural products such as corn, do a good job in pilot projects for target prices of soybeans and cotton, and actively carry out pilot projects for agricultural product price insurance. We must strengthen the construction of agricultural product circulation facilities and markets, as well as the construction of a comprehensive platform for market information monitoring, and reform and improve the reserve system for grain and other important agricultural products.
Fourth, improve rural financial services. We must deepen rural financial reform and innovation and promote the tilting of financial resources toward “agriculture, rural areas and farmers.” We must explore effective ways to use fiscal funds to leverage financial support for agriculture and promptly establish an agricultural credit guarantee system. We must prudently carry out pilot projects for internal fund mutual aid in farmers' cooperatives, pilot projects for mortgage loans on rural contracted land management rights and farmers' housing property rights, and pilot projects for financial leasing of large agricultural machinery, and improve financial services for new types of agricultural operating entities.
Fifth, strengthen support for agricultural insurance. We must encourage commercial insurance institutions to innovate insurance products, increase premium subsidies from central and provincial finances for insurance on major grain crops, include insurance for seed production of major grain crops in the central finance premium catalog, and accelerate research and introduction of a central finance reward-in-place-of-subsidy policy for insurance on local specialty and advantageous agricultural products. We must actively explore expanding insurance for the breeding industry.
Transforming the agricultural development model is a long-term and arduous task. We must earnestly implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech, follow the deployment and requirements of the “Recommendations,” enhance our sense of urgency and responsibility, forge ahead and strive for success, strive to achieve new results in transforming the agricultural development model, and constantly open up new prospects for modern agricultural construction.