China's agriculture, rural areas and farmers policy: how does the world view it?

The Central Rural Work Conference closed in Beijing a few days ago. The conference made important arrangements centering on promoting modern agriculture, advancing agricultural industrialization and rural reform, sparking heated discussion among experts from many countries.

Many overseas experts believe that the latest China "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" policy, while grounded in the country's latest national conditions, fits the general laws of modern agriculture, and will surely effectively benefit farmers, strengthen rural areas, and promote the adaptation of agricultural development to China's "new normal" economy.

The Central Rural Work Conference proposed vigorously developing agricultural industrialization, and proposed introducing modern industrial organization methods such as industrial chains and value chains into agriculture to promote the integrated interaction of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries.

In this regard, Guo Shengxiang, president of the Australia Institute of Innovative Finance, pointed out that this shows China wants to develop modern agriculture in the true sense. He said that in developed countries, agricultural industrialization usually proceeds roughly in step with industrialization and technological advancement; modern agriculture is a technology-intensive and talent-intensive industry that brings in a large number of elements from the secondary and tertiary industries, and it can be said that fine division of labor and numerous links are its prominent features.

He expressed the hope that the signals conveyed by this conference can help China establish two major concepts: first, agricultural modernization is the focus of comprehensive modernization and the key to crossing the middle-income trap; second, agricultural modernization should be a modernization combining capital, technology, talent and information.

The conference proposed coordinating and integrating agriculture-related funds, innovating agricultural investment and financing mechanisms, and improving the financial system supporting agriculture.

In this regard, Fredrik Erixon, director of the European Centre for International Political Economy, said that from Europe's experience, if the agricultural investment and financing system is not innovated, blindly relying on direct subsidies will hinder the overall innovation capacity of the agricultural industry, limit the pace of upgrading labor skills, and reduce the sensitivity of domestic agriculture to global prices.

He pointed out that EU agricultural funds are gradually tilting toward improving smart agriculture and training new agricultural technology talent, and the relevant experience can provide reference for China in making reasonable investment in the agricultural sector.

Frederick Gale, an economist at the Economic Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, said that how to ensure agriculture obtains efficient financing is an international challenge. He pointed out that agriculture is a high-risk industry, and the United States is currently working hard to encourage farmers to improve their ability to bear risks by purchasing insurance products. If China wants to improve the financial system supporting agriculture, improving the agricultural insurance system is a very good starting point.

The conference proposed that developing appropriately scaled operations has many forms, and it is necessary to adapt to local conditions, fully give play to the pioneering spirit of the grassroots and the masses, and allow "exploration, exploration, and more exploration."

In this regard, Tavrovsky, a professor at the People's Friendship University of Russia, said that this shows China holds an open attitude toward exploration in areas including guiding and regulating the orderly transfer of land management rights. He pointed out that promoting land transfer can further promote the shift of China's rural labor force, provide broad space for large-scale, intensive and efficient agricultural operation, and at the same time accelerate urban-rural integration and advance China's urbanization process.

Erixon believes that a reasonable land rights transfer system and an investment and financing system conforming to market laws are both prerequisites for the healthy development of the agricultural industry. He believes that China's agricultural policy is moving in the right direction, and believes the latest policy will provide important momentum for raising China's agricultural productivity, give farmers the impetus to invest in equipment and technology, and provide conditions for China's agriculture to achieve modernization and smart development in the future.

The conference proposed making good use of both markets and both resources, improving the system for international agricultural exchange and cooperation, and innovating ways of agricultural cooperation with foreign countries.

In this regard, Guo Shengxiang believes that the conference conveyed the concept of upgrading the level of China's agricultural foreign cooperation and opening up. He believes that for China to complete the transformation from a large agricultural country to a strong one, it must align with advanced international levels and make good use of domestic and foreign resources conducive to China's agricultural development.

Guo Shengxiang pointed out that Sino-foreign agricultural cooperation should not be limited to trade, but should also expand into technical cooperation, management innovation and investment and financing. He gave an example: Chinese capital entering overseas high-quality agricultural assets through equity cooperation can effectively promote integrated agricultural exchange between China and other countries and promote the integration of cross-border resource allocation. China can also draw on internal and external resources to complete the restoration of domestic agricultural soil fertility in a planned way and promote the formation of a resource-saving and environment-friendly agricultural model.

Tavrovsky said that China is a large country with a population of more than 1.3 billion, and the stability and development of agriculture bear on China's economic security. According to the latest guidelines of China's agricultural policy, solving the problems of agricultural development well can lay a solid foundation for the sustained and healthy development of China's economy.