New-type professional farmers have great potential for income growth and broad development prospects

This group has more outstanding business management capabilities, is a vital force in agricultural production, and is also the core of new agricultural business entities

"The 'Implementation Opinions on Stimulating the Vitality of Key Groups to Drive Income Growth of Urban and Rural Residents' proposes 'implementing incentive plans for seven major groups,' which can be seen as a formulation in the new era of 'letting some people get rich first,' or more precisely, letting some people's incomes grow faster. These groups have great potential for income growth and strong driving capacity." Lu Zhiwang, associate professor at the College of Economics and Management of Agricultural University, said in an interview with a reporter from Securities Daily that, taking the new-type professional farmers among them as an example, this group is relatively well educated, has more outstanding business management capabilities, is a vital force in agricultural production, and is also the core of new agricultural business entities. The rapid rise in the income of new-type professional farmers can stabilize the agricultural production team, ensure food security, and has major strategic significance.

Recently, the State Council issued the "Implementation Opinions on Stimulating the Vitality of Key Groups to Drive Income Growth of Urban and Rural Residents" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"), deploying incentive plans for key groups to drive overall income growth of urban and rural residents. Among them, in the incentive plan for new-type professional farmers, it is clearly proposed to broaden the channels for new-type professional farmers to increase income. Actively cultivate new agricultural business entities and agricultural socialized service entities such as family farms, specialized large households, farmers' cooperatives, and agricultural enterprises, and develop appropriately scaled operations. Support migrant workers, college students, and other personnel to return to their hometowns to start businesses, and advance pilot projects for land management rights to be converted into shares for the development of agricultural industrialization operations. Steadily advance the reform of the rural collective property rights system, develop various forms of share cooperation, advance pilot projects for reform of the share rights and powers of rural collective assets, improve relevant policies and legal provisions for rural collective economic organizations, develop and strengthen the rural collective economy, and explore converting operating assets formed by fiscal funds invested in agriculture and rural areas into shares quantified to households. Accelerate the advancement of pilot projects for reform of rural land expropriation, market entry of collective operating construction land, and the homestead system, and increase through multiple channels the value-added returns, equity returns, and asset returns shared by farmers collectively and individually.

Song Xuetao, senior macroeconomic analyst at Huatai Securities, said, "In the composition of U.S. household assets, financial assets and real estate account for comparable proportions, while in the composition of Chinese residents' assets, real estate accounts for the vast majority. Therefore, the core of increasing returns on equity assets is real estate, the core of real estate is land, real estate is the stock of the city, and land is the share capital. For farmers collectively, value-added returns mean establishing a fair compensation mechanism in the process of land expropriation. From the perspective of urbanization, the core is to enable rural residents who settle in cities to afford housing, thereby sharing in the asset appreciation returns brought by urbanization." Song Xuetao said.

Lu Zhiwang believes that the implementation of the six supporting actions in the "Opinions" can be seen as specific tasks the government will carry out in the future. By promoting employment and improving labor skills, labor remuneration is increased, while property income is also increased. For poor populations, especially those without obvious potential for income growth, transfer payments are needed as a floor. This is like the targeted poverty alleviation policies carried out nationwide in recent years. At the same time, tax system reform must also play a role in adjusting the income structure.