800 Major Grain-Producing Counties Accelerate Coordinated Urban-Rural Development

Industry News Jan 1, 1970By Sophie Bennett 0 views

The 800 major grain-producing counties, which account for 73.64% of the national total grain output, have always been the main force in China's grain production and have always occupied an irreplaceable position in ensuring national food security. However, the county-level economies of these counties remain very difficult. Without transfer payments from the central finance, local fiscal expenditures are hard to sustain; basic public services in society are unequal and low in level, and the benefits of reform and development cannot be fully shared. Investment in new-type urbanization is small, debts are many, and the compliance rate is low; the radiation and driving functions of towns are poor; the secondary and tertiary industries are small in scale and slow in development, making it difficult to form a pattern in which the primary, secondary and tertiary industries promote each other and develop to mutual benefit. The comparative benefit gap between urban and rural areas and between industries is obvious, farmers' income growth is slow, and the loss of young and middle-aged labor is severe. These problems have seriously affected the enthusiasm of local governments to focus on grain and of farmers to grow grain, and have brought huge hidden dangers to national food security and comprehensive, sustainable social and economic development. In light of rural realities and in studying the instruction in the report of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China that integrated urban-rural development is the fundamental way to solve the “three rural issues” (agriculture, rural areas and farmers), it is suggested that, starting from the 13th Five-Year Plan, the implementation of coordinated integrated urban-rural development in the 800 major grain-producing counties be elevated to the level of a national strategy. This will have a more positive and far-reaching impact on realizing a fundamental transformation of the development model of the national rural economy, fundamentally ensuring national food security, resolving the long-standing accumulated problems of the “three rural issues,” advancing new-type urbanization, accelerating the process of agricultural modernization and building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. At present, the process of coordinated integrated urban-rural development in China's 800 major grain-producing counties is seriously lagging (1) The urbanization rate of China's 800 major grain-producing counties is far below the national average The 800 major grain-producing counties are widely distributed across 24 provinces and autonomous regions in China, and urban-rural development generally lags behind. According to statistics, the comprehensive urbanization rate of the 800 major grain-producing counties is only about 24%, far below China's urbanization rate of 53.7% based on the permanent resident population, and even further below the average level of 80% in developed countries. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics for 2013 show that the secondary and tertiary industries formed through urbanization will each generate a 3.7% driving force on local GDP growth. Yet the urbanization level of the 800 major grain-producing counties is generally not high, and their capacity to lead rural areas with cities and promote agriculture with industry is low. (2) High-yield but poor counties are common among the 800 major grain-producing counties ⟧ According to statistics, in 2013 the grain output of the 800 major grain-producing counties (cities, districts, banners and farms) already accounted for 73.64% of the national total grain output, of which the grain sown area accounted for 65.86% of the national total sown area, and commercial grain accounted for 86.7% of the national total rural commercial grain. However, among the 800 major grain-producing counties, there were as many as 105 national-level poverty-stricken counties, accounting for 13.13% of the total 800 major grain-producing counties. Many major grain-producing counties are still fiscally poor or fiscally small counties, producing a strange cycle in which the greater the grain contribution, the less the local fiscal revenue, the lower the farmers' income, and the more backward the local economy. (3) The socialized service system for grain production is weak, hindering the development of grain agricultural modernization and the improvement of grain-growing efficiency At present, the agricultural socialized and specialized service system in China's major grain-producing counties remains weak. The added value of socialized services accounts for only 2.3% of agricultural GDP, far from the roughly 12.5% share in developed countries. This is also one of the important reasons for the slow increase in farmers' income. Due to the lack of necessary support, encouragement and guidance policies, the government and social entities are not highly motivated to build a socialized and specialized service system. In the main grain-producing areas, socialized services such as infrastructure construction, input services, production operation services and pest and disease prevention and control are generally not matched, not complete and not widespread; township governments have limited means and low capacity to organize services. (4) Low incomes for grain farmers and backward basic social service guarantees have led to serious loss and weakening of human resources among grain farmers In recent years, because grain prices have encountered a “ceiling” and the prices of production factors such as agricultural inputs have risen year after year, the comparative benefit of grain has become even lower and is trending downward. In most places, the net income from one mu of grain is only about two or three hundred yuan. In addition, the basic pension for grain farmers is low, rural social assistance funds are limited, grain farmers' income grows slowly, the level of social security is low, and the harsh working environment has led a large number of young and middle-aged rural laborers to go out to work, making the problem of farmers' aging increasingly apparent. According to the standard of the International Labour Organization that 45 years of age and above constitutes elderly labor, statistics on this basis show that elderly labor in China's major grain-producing counties is as high as more than 85%. Such a labor force structure cannot bear the heavy responsibility of ensuring national food security, let alone meet the needs of agricultural modernization. The significance of giving priority to implementing the important strategy of coordinated urban-rural development in the 800 major grain-producing counties (1) Using the accelerated pace of coordinated urban-rural development in the 800 major grain-producing counties as an engine is a priority path for breaking through China's “three rural issues” dilemma Relying on their good agricultural production foundation, the 800 major grain-producing counties have a prominent rigid-demand effect in agriculture and the power to leverage industry. By grasping coordinated integrated urban-rural development in the 800 major grain-producing counties, one grasps the focus and the key for the rural situation as a whole. The bottleneck of the “three rural issues” can be broken through here, innovative experience in new-type urbanization can be discovered here, and all reform policies for cities supporting rural areas and industry repaying agriculture can first be practiced here, striving to make practice here an incubator of experience for transforming the development model of the national rural economy. (2) Strengthen the sense of hardship and fully understand the important significance of transforming the development model for ensuring national food security At present, China's rigid demand for grain will continue to increase, but resource constraints are very obvious, and the difficulty of promoting the stable development of grain production and steadily improving comprehensive agricultural production capacity continues to grow. China's eastern coastal areas have many people and little land and obvious advantages for industry and commerce, so reductions in cultivated land and soil pollution will be difficult to avoid for a considerable time, and the contradiction between grain supply and demand is becoming increasingly prominent; the western regions suffer serious soil erosion, have mostly dry years, and face land desertification that is difficult to treat in a short time, so achieving grain self-sufficiency is also very difficult. In addition, as a large country with a population of 1.3 billion that is still growing, food security can only be based on itself, and it cannot rely excessively on the international market. By strengthening the sense of hardship, abandoning as soon as possible the old traditional path of pursuing grain for grain's sake and agriculture for agriculture's sake, and unhesitatingly taking the new path of coordinated integrated urban-rural development, it will be possible to fundamentally consolidate and improve the comprehensive grain production capacity of major grain-producing counties and safeguard China's food security in accordance with the laws of industrial development. (3) Accelerating the implementation of coordinated urban-rural development in the 800 major grain-producing counties is an important interface for the coordinated development of China's main agricultural areas with the national new-type urbanization strategic pattern The 800 major grain-producing counties are widely distributed across 24 provinces and autonomous regions in central and eastern China and overlap spatially with 19 of the 21 major urbanization areas (out of a total of 21) in the national new-type urbanization strategic pattern. Through redesigning the respective positioning and functions of major urbanization areas and grain production areas, a coordinated model can be formed featuring efficient allocation of innovation resources, openness and sharing, and joint prevention, control and treatment of regional environmental issues, shaping an interactive, complementary and mutually beneficial platform of “large leading small, small supplementing large.” Through the regional interface of coordinated urban-rural development in the 800 major grain-producing counties, a cross-regional “complementary integrated urban-rural development mechanism” among clusters can be constructed, becoming a new pattern of coordinated urban-rural clusters with high development agglomeration efficiency and strong complementary industrial functions nationwide, thereby making the strategic layout of China's new-type urbanization more reasonable and complete. (4) Accelerating the implementation of coordinated urban-rural development in the 800 major grain-producing counties can enable farmers there to increase incomes and escape poverty as soon as possible, contributing to building a moderately prosperous society in all respects Taking the lead in promoting the process of coordinated integrated urban-rural development in the 800 major grain-producing counties will enable the 36 million poor people in major grain-producing counties, who account for 51.3% of the total rural poor population, to benefit or escape poverty as soon as possible, contributing to building a moderately prosperous society in all respects on schedule. (5) Accelerating the implementation of coordinated urban-rural development in the 800 major grain-producing counties is an indispensable component of ensuring the implementation of the “Belt and Road” strategy Against the background of the nation's implementation of the new-type international “Belt and Road” strategy, it is necessary to make full use of policy guidance and market mechanisms to integrate urban and rural resources, accelerate the cultivation of internationally competitive agricultural enterprise groups, support the strengthening of agricultural product trade, and encourage overseas agricultural cooperation and development; relying on the food security guarantee system of the 800 major grain-producing counties, do a good job in adjusting varieties and balancing surpluses and shortages, creating more favorable guarantees for the implementation of the “Belt and Road” strategy. (6) Accelerating the implementation of coordinated integrated urban-rural development in the 800 major grain-producing counties is conducive to advancing China's process of comprehensively realizing modernization The 800 major grain-producing counties, which account for as much as 46% of China's rural GDP, hold a pivotal position in the overall situation of rural economic development. Through implementing the strategy of coordinated integrated urban-rural development, they will certainly become an engine driving force for the development of agricultural modernization nationwide and play a positive role in accelerating the comprehensive realization of modernization.

The 800 major grain-producing counties, which account for 73.64% of the nation's total grain output, have always been the main force in China's grain production and have always occupied an irreplaceable position in ensuring national food security. However, the county-level economies of these counties remain very difficult. Without transfer payments from the central government, local fiscal expenditures are hard to sustain. Basic public services in society are unequal and low in level, and the benefits of reform and development cannot be fully shared. Investment in new urbanization construction is small, with many outstanding debts and a low rate of meeting standards. The radiation and driving functions of towns are weak, and the scale of secondary and tertiary industries is small and their development slow, making it difficult to form a pattern in which primary, secondary and tertiary industries promote one another and develop mutually beneficially. The comparative benefits between urban and rural areas and between industries differ markedly, farmers' income growth is slow, and the loss of young and middle-aged labor is severe. These problems have seriously affected local governments' enthusiasm for focusing on grain and farmers' enthusiasm for growing grain, bringing enormous hidden dangers to national food security and comprehensive, sustainable social and economic development.

In light of rural realities and in studying the instruction in the report of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China that integrated urban-rural development is the fundamental way to resolve the "three rural issues," it is recommended that, starting with the 13th Five-Year Plan, the integrated urban-rural coordinated development of the 800 major grain-producing counties be elevated to the level of a national strategy. This will produce a more positive and far-reaching impact on achieving a fundamental transformation of the rural economic development model nationwide, fundamentally guaranteeing national food security, resolving the accumulated ills of the "three rural issues," advancing new urbanization construction, accelerating the process of agricultural modernization, and building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

Currently, the process of integrated urban-rural coordinated development in China's 800 major grain-producing counties is severely lagging

(1) The urbanization rate of China's 800 major grain-producing counties is far below the national average

The 800 major grain-producing counties are widely distributed across 24 provinces and autonomous regions of China, and urban-rural development is generally backward. According to statistics, the comprehensive urbanization rate of the 800 major grain-producing counties is only about 24%, far below China's urbanization rate of 53.7% of the permanent resident population, and even further below the average level of 80% in developed countries.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics for 2013 show that secondary and tertiary industries formed through urbanization will generate a 3.7% pulling force on local GDP growth respectively. Yet the urbanization level of the 800 major grain-producing counties is generally not high, and their capacity for towns to lead villages and industry to promote agriculture is low.

(2) High-yield but poor counties are common among the 800 major grain-producing counties

According to statistics, in 2013 the grain output of the 800 major grain-producing counties (cities, districts, banners and farms) already accounted for 73.64% of the nation's total grain output, of which the grain sown area accounted for 65.86% of the nation's total sown area, and commodity grain accounted for 86.7% of the nation's total rural commodity grain. Yet among the 800 major grain-producing counties, as many as 105 are national-level poverty-stricken counties, accounting for 13.13% of the total number of the 800 major grain-producing counties. Many major grain-producing counties remain fiscally poor or fiscally small counties, giving rise to a strange cycle in which the greater the contribution to grain, the less the local fiscal revenue, the lower the farmers' income, and the more backward the local economy.

(3) The socialized service system for grain production is weak, hindering the development of grain agricultural modernization and the improvement of grain-growing efficiency

At present, the agricultural socialized and specialized service system in China's major grain-producing counties remains weak. The added value of the socialized service industry accounts for only 2.3% of agricultural GDP, far short of the roughly 12.5% share of added value in developed countries. This is also one of the important reasons for the slow increase in farmers' income.

Owing to the lack of necessary support, encouragement and guidance policies, the government and social entities are not highly motivated to build a socialized and specialized service system. In the main grain-producing areas, socialized services such as infrastructure construction, input supply services, production and operation services, and pest and disease prevention and control are generally not well matched, not complete and not widespread; the organizational service means and capacity of township governments are limited and weak.

(4) Low income for grain farmers and backward basic social service guarantees have led to severe loss and weakening of human resources among grain farmers

In recent years, because grain prices have hit a "ceiling," and because the prices of agricultural inputs and other production factors have risen year after year, the comparative benefit of grain has become even lower and is trending downward. In most places, the net income from one mu of grain is only about two or three hundred yuan. In addition, the basic pension for grain farmers is low, rural social assistance funds are limited, grain farmers' income grows slowly and their social security level is low, and combined with the arduous working environment, large numbers of young and middle-aged rural laborers have gone out to work, and the problem of farmers aging is becoming increasingly apparent. According to the standard set by the International Labour Organization that 45 years of age and above constitutes elderly labor, statistics on this basis show that elderly labor in China's major grain-producing counties is as high as over 85%. Such a labor force structure cannot bear the heavy responsibility of guaranteeing national food security, let alone meet the needs of agricultural modernization.

The significance of giving priority to implementing the important strategy of urban-rural coordination in the 800 major grain-producing counties

(1) Using the acceleration of urban-rural coordinated development in the 800 major grain-producing counties as an engine is a priority path for breaking through China's "three rural issues" challenges

By virtue of their good agricultural production foundation, the 800 major grain-producing counties have a prominent rigid agricultural demand effect and industrial leveraging energy. By grasping the integrated urban-rural coordinated development of the 800 major grain-producing counties, one grasps the key point and the crux as far as the overall rural situation is concerned. The bottleneck of the "three rural issues" can be broken through here, innovative experience in new urbanization construction can be discovered here, and all reform policies for cities supporting rural areas and industry reinvesting in agriculture can first be practiced here, striving to make practice here an incubator of experience for transforming the development model of the national rural economy.

(2) Strengthen the sense of hardship and fully understand the important significance of transforming the development model for guaranteeing national food security

At present, China's rigid demand for grain will continue to increase, but resource constraints are very obvious, and the difficulty of promoting the stable development of grain production and steadily improving comprehensive agricultural production capacity is also continuously increasing. China's eastern coastal areas have many people and little land, with obvious advantages for industry and commerce, and the reduction of arable land and soil pollution will be difficult to avoid for a considerable period of time, making the contradiction between grain supply and demand increasingly prominent; the western region suffers from severe soil erosion, mostly dry years, and land desertification that is difficult to bring under control in a short time, so achieving grain self-sufficiency is also very difficult. In addition, a large populous country with a population of 1.3 billion, and one that is still increasing, can only rely on itself for food security and cannot depend excessively on the international market. By strengthening the sense of hardship, discarding as soon as possible the old traditional path of focusing on grain for grain's sake and on agriculture for agriculture's sake, and unhesitatingly taking the new path of integrated urban-rural coordinated development, we can fundamentally consolidate and improve the comprehensive grain production capacity of major grain-producing counties and guarantee China's food security in accordance with the laws of industrial development.

(3) Accelerating the implementation of urban-rural coordinated development in the 800 major grain-producing counties is an important interface for the coordinated development of China's main agricultural areas with the national new urbanization strategic pattern

The 800 major grain-producing counties are widely distributed across 24 provinces and autonomous regions in central and eastern China, and their spatial locations overlap with 19 major urbanization areas (out of a total of 21) in the national new urbanization strategic pattern. Through the redesign of the respective positioning and functions of major urbanization areas and grain production areas, a coordinated model featuring efficient allocation of innovation resources, open sharing, and joint prevention, control and treatment of regional environmental issues can be formed, shaping an interactive, complementary and mutually beneficial platform in which "the large lead the small and the small supplement the large." Through the urban-rural coordination regional interface of the 800 major grain-producing counties, a cross-regional "complementary integrated urban-rural coordinated development mechanism" among clusters can be constructed, becoming a new pattern of coordinated urban-rural clusters with high development agglomeration efficiency and strong complementary industrial functions across the country, thereby making the strategic layout of China's new urbanization more reasonable and complete.

(4) Accelerating the implementation of urban-rural coordinated development in the 800 major grain-producing counties can help farmers in major grain-producing counties increase their income and escape poverty as quickly as possible, contributing to building a moderately prosperous society in all respects

Taking the lead in advancing the process of integrated urban-rural coordinated development in the 800 major grain-producing counties will enable the 36 million poor people in major grain-producing counties, who account for 51.3% of the total rural poor population, to benefit or escape poverty as quickly as possible, contributing to building a moderately prosperous society in all respects on schedule.

(5) Accelerating the implementation of urban-rural coordinated development in the 800 major grain-producing counties is an indispensable component of guaranteeing the implementation of the "Belt and Road" strategy

Against the background of the national implementation of the "Belt and Road" new international strategy, it is necessary to make full use of policy guidance and market mechanisms to integrate urban and rural resources, accelerate the cultivation of agricultural enterprise groups with international competitiveness, support the strengthening of agricultural product trade, and encourage overseas agricultural cooperative development; relying on the food security guarantee system of the 800 major grain-producing counties, it is necessary to do a good job in adjusting varieties and balancing surpluses and shortages, creating more favorable guarantees for the implementation of the "Belt and Road" strategy.

(6) Accelerating the implementation of integrated urban-rural coordinated development in the 800 major grain-producing counties is conducive to advancing China's process of comprehensively achieving modernization

The 800 major grain-producing counties, which account for as much as 46% of China's rural GDP, hold a pivotal position in the overall situation of rural economic development. Through the implementation of the integrated urban-rural coordinated development strategy, they will certainly become an engine driving force for the development of agricultural modernization nationwide, playing a positive role in promoting the accelerated realization of comprehensive modernization.

800 Major Grain-Producing Counties Accelerate Coordinated Urban-Rural Development

Related Articles