By Zhang Yunhua, DRC

2017-2-13

This year’s No.1 Central Document has been issued recently, focusing on the development of agriculture, rural areas and farmers. So far 14 No.1 Documents have been released by CPC Central Committee since the turn of the new century. This year’s No.1 Central Document set the major task for agricultural development in the new era, which is to press forward the supply-side structural reform of agriculture.

First, the implementation of six measures will inject new momentum into agricultural development. Presently, as the problems on agriculture chiefly rest on the supply side, we need to take a problem-oriented approach and address related conflicts and problems through advancing supply-side structural reform of agriculture. In the course of reform, we need to cultivate new drivers for agricultural and rural development to facilitate the construction of a modern agriculture.

Second, the structural reform relating to agricultural development needs to optimize agro-products and industrial structure, adjust the production mode and straighten up the industrial system. To achieve such a development goal, we need to fulfill the following tasks. 1. We need to optimize agro-products and industrial structure to enhance the quality of agriculture. On one hand, we need to adjust and optimize the farming and planting structure, as well as the regional layout, while on the other hand, we need to upgrade the quality of agricultural products and enhance the structural quality of the products. 2. We need to cultivate long-term and sustainable agricultural production capacity. 3. We need to address agricultural issues from a comprehensive perspective concentrating on the inter-industry interactions.

Third, the key to rationalize the relationship between the government and the market is to activate market performance and market elements. 1. In terms of the activation of market performance, reform should be deepened over the pricing formation mechanism and the purchasing and storage mechanism of grain and other major agricultural products. The agricultural subsidy system should be improved and the mechanism of developing agriculture with government financial support should be reformed. 2. The activation of market elements mainly involves the elements of the land and the collective assets. With regard to the activation of land elements, we need to deal properly with issues relating to contracted land, homestead and rural collective land for business-related construction. The core of the activation of collective assets lies in the reform of joint-stock system of rural collectively-owned assets.