Xi stresses strengthening farmland protection, quality improvement to expand room for agricultural production

BEIJING, July 21 – Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Chinese president, chairman of the Central Military Commission, and director of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs (CCFEA), on Thursday presided over the second meeting of the CCFEA, where a series of issues were discussed such as farmland protection and the comprehensive utilization of saline-alkali land. Xi delivered an important speech, stressing that food security is among a country’s most fundamental interests, and farmland is the lifeblood of grain production. China should implement the strategy of sustainable farmland use and innovative application of agricultural technology to increase farmland productivity, and take concrete steps to strengthen farmland protection. It is imperative to improve the quality of farmland and fully tap the potential of the comprehensive utilization of saline-alkali land, so as to steadily expand the room for agricultural production and boost overall agricultural production capacity.

Li Qiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Chinese premier and deputy director of the CCFEA; Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, a member of the CPC Central Committee Secretariat and a member of the CCFEA; and Ding Xuexiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Chinese vice premier and a member of the CCFEA, attended the meeting.

At the meeting, attendees heard reports on strengthening the protection of farmland and the comprehensive utilization of saline-alkali land from the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Central Financial Work Leading Group Office (the Central Agricultural Work Leading Group Office) and the National Development and Reform Commission.

It was pointed out at the meeting that the CPC has always attached great importance to the protection of cultivated land. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee has implemented a series of tough measures to maintain the red line of farmland, preliminarily keeping the total amount of China’s farmland from dwindling. Meanwhile, it is essential to be aware that China still has a large population with limited arable land, and the use of farmland for non-farming purposes remains a prominent issue. The foundation for maintaining the red line of farmland is not yet stable, and there are still many problems in terms of farmland water conservancy. On the new journey in the new era, the task of farmland protection has not been lightened, but become heavier. We must adhere to the problem-oriented and goal-oriented approach, respect the law, navigate the situation judiciously according to circumstances, adapt to local conditions, and make persistent efforts, so as to further strengthen the protection of farmland.

It was stressed at the meeting that farmland protection is a systematic project, which makes it necessary to highlight the major requirements such as attaching equal importance to quantity and quality, strict law enforcement, systematic promotion and sustainable utilization. Solid measures need to be adopted in this regard. It is imperative to make sure that the responsibility is fulfilled for protecting farmland, implement a new round of tasks for protecting farmland and permanent basic cropland, as specified in the national land space planning, and make sure not to breach the red line of 1.8 billion mu (about 120 million hectares) of farmland. It is necessary to make every effort to improve the quality of farmland and truly turn farmland, especially permanent basic cropland, into modern, fertile land that is suitable for farming and capable of producing high and stable yields despite droughts or floods. It is imperative to reform and improve the system for offsetting cultivated land used for other purposes. All farmland used for other purposes must be placed under the system’s management in a unified way. The principle must be upheld that the farmland occupied for other purposes must be offset equally with the newly opened-up farmland. The mechanism should be perfected for checking whether the quality of the newly-developed farmland to offset the occupied farmland for other purposes is up to the required standard. It is imperative to motivate farmers and local governments to protect cropland, and grow and manage well crops for high yields, establish the mechanism for ensuring the incomes of grain growers, develop appropriately different forms of scaled agricultural operations, and establish the mechanism for compensating major grain-producing areas, so as to form a synergy among major grain-producing areas, major grain sales areas and areas where agricultural production and sales are balanced to protect cropland. It is important to strengthen the efforts to manage idle land, and take stock of such land resources before farming or putting such land to other use as the case may be. We should proactively develop all kinds of non-traditional farmland resources, strengthen sci-tech research, production and investment in this regard, and explore effective development modes so as to overcome the constraints of the lack of traditional farmland in our country. As far as turning the farmland illegally occupied for other purposes back to farmland is concerned, what can be done must be realistic, and specific circumstances must be taken into consideration to protect the interests of the farmers concerned. Publicity and interpretation of related policies must be strengthened. An appropriate transitional period should be set aside to push forward the process step by step.

It was pointed out at the meeting that the comprehensive utilization of saline-alkali soil constitutes an important part of the protection and improvement of farmland. China boasts a large area of saline-alkali land, and the farmland in some regions has been deteriorating into saline-alkali conditions. Therefore, it is of great significance to ameliorate and utilize the saline-alkali land in a holistic manner. We should fully tap the potential of comprehensive use of saline-alkali land, strengthen the transformation of the existent saline-alkali land and effectively curb the worsening saline-alkali conditions of some farmland, so as to develop an agricultural undertaking with saline-alkali land utilization as a distinctive feature. It is imperative to take stock of saline-alkali land resources, and work out a general plan and specific implementation measures accordingly on the comprehensive utilization of saline-alkali land. Saline-alkali farmland of different types must be managed and ameliorated in differentiated approaches, and different local conditions must be taken into consideration for the utilization of such land so that all types of saline-alkali land can be an important resource for the production of grain. We should accelerate the selection and cultivation of saline-alkali tolerant varieties of crops, and either grow tolerant crops in such land or transform such land for specific crops. Approaches that have been proved effective should be widely applied, and such necessary factors as water and fund must be secured.

The document Guiding Opinions on Promoting Comprehensive Utilization of Saline-alkali Land was examined and approved at the meeting.

Some other issues were also discussed at the meeting.

Members of the CCFEA were present. Leading officials of relevant central Party and government departments sat in on the meeting.