A batch of national public-benefit agricultural product wholesale markets will be planned and built across China
Ten departments including the Ministry of Commerce jointly issue the national agricultural product market system development plan
To scientifically plan the layout of the agricultural product circulation network and accelerate the building of an agricultural product market system compatible with new industrialization, informatization, urbanization and agricultural modernization, recently 10 departments including the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Land and Resources, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Agriculture, the People's Bank of China, the State Administration of Taxation, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, the Standardization Administration of China, and the All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives jointly issued the National Agricultural Product Market System Development Plan (hereinafter referred to as the Plan).
Based on factors such as the economic and social conditions, transport locations, population distribution and agricultural product circulation foundations of various regions of China, and in combination with national strategic arrangements such as the “Belt and Road” initiative, the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, as well as the distribution of major national commercial functional zones and advantageous agricultural product production and marketing areas, the Plan lays out about 100 national backbone agricultural product wholesale markets and 8 market clusters in areas of China where agricultural product production, distribution and consumption are concentrated. Relying on the market clusters, it forms a “three vertical and three horizontal” national backbone network for agricultural product circulation, which connects with regional agricultural product circulation networks, forming a national agricultural product market system that combines the national network with regional networks, public-benefit operation with market-based operation, physical networks with virtual networks, and wholesale networks with retail networks.
The Plan sets out key tasks for building China's agricultural product market system in 6 areas: strengthening the construction of agricultural product circulation infrastructure, cultivating and expanding agricultural product market entities, improving the agricultural product production and marketing linkage system, advancing the informatization of agricultural product circulation, maintaining the safe and stable operation of the agricultural product market, and establishing a mechanism for realizing the public-benefit nature of the agricultural product market. It also proposes 6 measures to ensure the smooth implementation of the Plan, covering establishing and improving the system of laws, regulations and standards, reforming and innovating investment and financing methods, continuously improving the safeguard mechanism for construction land, striving to reduce the tax and fee burden on enterprises, giving full play to the role of industry associations, and effectively strengthening the organization and implementation of the Plan.
In addition, a major highlight of the Plan is that, for the first time, based on factors such as industrial resource endowments, population distribution and consumption capacity, and in combination with the national agricultural product market system layout plan, it proposes to plan and build a batch of national public-benefit agricultural product wholesale markets as well as regional public-benefit agricultural product wholesale markets and retail outlets, forming a public-benefit agricultural product market circulation network composed jointly of wholesale markets and retail outlets.
The release of the Plan will help improve the agricultural product market system and optimize the layout of the agricultural product circulation network; help accelerate the process of circulation modernization and improve the efficiency of agricultural product circulation; help enhance the capacity to serve agriculture, rural areas and farmers and promote agricultural development and increase farmers' incomes; help raise the level of public services and better meet the consumption needs of urban and rural residents; and help coordinate the development of both domestic and international markets and enhance the competitiveness of the agricultural product circulation industry.