The development of agriculture, rural areas and farmers urgently needs innovative theoretical construction
China's "issues of agriculture, rural areas and farmers" is an inexhaustible topic, unmatched by many other fields in its breadth of involvement, richness of connotation, complexity of circumstances and speed of change. In recent years, the domestic and international economic situation has been treacherous and volatile, and China's economic development has entered a new normal. The "issues of agriculture, rural areas and farmers," which bear on whether the Party's "Two Centenary Goals" can be smoothly realized, especially require continuous exploration and summary in theory and practice, continuous refinement and elevation, and continuous innovative research. Under the new circumstances, the principal contradiction in agriculture has shifted from insufficient total supply to structural contradiction, mainly manifested as the coexistence of stage-specific oversupply and undersupply, and advancing the structural reform of the agricultural supply side has become the main direction for the reform and improvement of agricultural policy. At this new historical stage, in the face of many challenges in agricultural and rural development, research and exploration of the "issues of agriculture, rural areas and farmers" require even more innovative thinking, a change of concepts, a broader vision, and deeper inquiry. Consolidating the agricultural foundation, improving agricultural quality, efficiency and competitiveness, promoting the coordinated development of new urbanization and new rural construction, promoting the sustained increase of farmers' incomes, and deeply advancing targeted poverty alleviation and targeted poverty eradication - none of these can be done by reducing the intensity of work on "agriculture, rural areas and farmers," nor by lowering grain production capacity,
still less by harming farmers' interests. This is an arduous and complex systemic project that urgently requires pioneering practical exploration and innovative theoretical construction.
In the "13th Five-Year Plan," the state placed "vigorously advancing agricultural modernization" in a prominent position, and for the first time proposed that agriculture is the foundation for building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and realizing modernization. It clearly pointed out the need to accelerate the transformation of agricultural development modes, develop moderate-scale operations in various forms, and give play to their leading role in modern agricultural construction. Efforts should be made to build a modern agricultural industrial system, production system and operating system, improve agricultural quality, efficiency and competitiveness, promote the coordinated management of grain, cash crops and feed, the integration of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fisheries, the integration of planting, breeding and processing, and the integrated development of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries, and take a path of agricultural modernization featuring high output efficiency, safe products, resource conservation and environmental friendliness. The blueprint has been drawn, but implementation still requires effort.
The China Institute for Rural Studies at Tsinghua University, established in 2011, is a university-level research institution of Tsinghua University and an interdisciplinary research platform involving agriculture-related disciplines. It conducts research on overarching, strategic and forward-looking issues in China's "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" field, and is committed to building a first-class think tank serving national decision-making on "agriculture, rural areas and farmers," an important base for cultivating high-quality talent in agriculture-related disciplines, and a first-class academic research platform for enriching theories on China's rural reform and development. It has gathered a large number of
people of insight engaged in theoretical research and practical exploration of agriculture, rural areas and farmers. They continuously make their voices heard on this platform, contributing wisdom to serving "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" and frequently offering suggestions for national decision-making.
Comrade Liu Qi's new book, "Eight Lectures on Agriculture, Rural Areas and Farmers in a Great Power at Tsinghua," is a collection of lecture manuscripts delivered on this platform, and it is also the first individual lecture monograph published since the establishment of the China Institute for Rural Studies at Tsinghua University. Within one year, he gave eight lectures on this platform, rich in content, large in information volume, original in viewpoints, profound in insights, broad in vision and full of witty remarks. This is also the consistent characteristic of Comrade Liu Qi's writings, with a unique style in the field of agriculture, rural areas and farmers research, forming a school of its own. It is believed that whether they are theoretical researchers of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers," practitioners of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" work, or numerous students, readers will all gain some understanding, inspiration and benefit after reading. We hope that more people of insight will come to this platform to exchange ideas, discuss principles and teach, resolve doubts and answer questions, condense wise philosophical thinking through interaction, spark innovative flashes through collision, and wholeheartedly offer suggestions for enriching and innovating theories on China's rural reform and development.