Zhang Li, who heads a local agricultural cooperative, uses his phone to adjust the temperature in a greenhouse for vegetables in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, on January 22 (XINHUA)

From the rise to the recent ease of Sino-U.S. trade frictions, the soybean has been a hotly contested topic throughout the period. While affirming that the two countries are important partners in the soybean trade, China has highlighted the importance of increasing soybean output at home as it strives to boost the domestic agricultural sector. 

Soybean planting is only one of the many issues covered by the No.1 Central Document released on February 19, the first policy statement of the year jointly released by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council. It keeps issues relating to agriculture, rural areas and farmers’ welfare as the top agenda, for the 16th year in a row. 

“The toughest task facing China in terms of eradicating poverty lies in these issues,” Du Zhixiong, Vice Director of the Rural Development Institute at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Beijing Review. 

A sound agricultural sector and steady rural development are essential for underpinning the economy and taking the nation closer to its goal of building its society into a moderately prosperous one by 2020, the document says. 

As it is introduced, the output and efficiency of agricultural production will be enhanced by harnessing technology and optimizing the agricultural structure. Poverty will be tackled and the environment in rural areas improved. In addition, ensuring a stable supply of green and high-quality agricultural products gets priority as well as improving the livelihoods of rural residents. 

Han Changfu, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA), told a press conference on February 20 that agricultural and rural development registered steady progress in 2018, which provided strong support to China’s sound socioeconomic growth. “Since China is facing stronger downward economic pressure and a changing external environment with mounting risks and challenges, it needs to maintain its focus on agriculture and enable it to further contribute to domestic economic growth,” he said. 

Focus on modernization 

According to Zhang Hongyu, Vice President of the China Institute for Rural Studies, Tsinghua University, this year, a priority for the authorities is to keep grain production above 600 million tons to ensure grain security for the large population. Official data shows in 2018, total grain output reached 658 million tons. 

The policy document emphasizes securing the supply of major agricultural products and boosting production of high-quality agricultural products or those in short supply, such as soybeans and dairy products. The target is to keep grain-growing areas at 110 million hectares and arable land area over 120 million hectares. By 2020, over 53.33 million hectares of high-standard farmland will be developed. 

Farming will be modernized to improve agricultural output and efficiency. Liao Xiyuan, an official with the MARA, said technological innovation is key to promoting agricultural modernization. The document stresses making breakthroughs in key agricultural technologies and independent innovation in areas such as smart agriculture, heavy agricultural machinery and green agricultural inputs. 

It also promises a new subsidy policy to better protect farmers’ interests and encourage financial institutions to lend more to agribusinesses. New agricultural production entities such as household farms and agricultural cooperatives are to be developed. 

Du stressed that individual agricultural households should also be supported. “Individual producers need to be connected more closely with cooperatives, leading enterprises and service providers in production chains so that farmers can get more benefits,” he said. 

While the rural economy is restructured, tourism and leisure agriculture, combining sightseeing and recreation, are being promoted to boost the rural economy. MARA has developed nearly 400 demonstration counties with rural sightseeing and recreational facilities nationwide. Last year, tourists paid 3 billion trips to rural destinations, according to official data. The promotion of modern agricultural product processing, which has industrialized agricultural produce, also augments farmers’ profits by improving the value added of their products. 

“We need to fully utilize the natural and cultural resources of rural areas to diversify local economic drivers, develop full-fledged product-processing chains, and tap into the potential of agriculture for deep integration of rural industries,” Ye Xingqing, a researcher with the Development Research Center of the State Council, said. 

 

Women from the Miao ethnic group produce embroideries as souvenirs for tourists in Fenghuang County, Hunan Province, on February 18 (XINHUA)

Improved rural life 

At the Central Economic Work Conference in 2017, the annual meeting to set the national economic agenda, the authorities said preventing major risks, pollution control and targeted poverty alleviation would be the “three tough battles” for the next three years. 

The 2019 policy document also emphasizes the importance of poverty alleviation to advance rural residents’ well-being. In 2018, 13.86 million people were lifted out of poverty, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. To create a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020, there will be further policies to improve the living standards of all rural residents living below the national poverty line of a 2,300-yuan ($338) income annually. 

In extremely poor regions, residents will be given financial assistance, while families living in inaccessible areas with little earning opportunities will be relocated. Measures will be taken to nurture talent in such areas. 

According to the National Development and Reform Commission, 100 million rural residents will become urban dwellers by 2020. However, the relocated people will be allowed to keep their rural land even after they become registered urban dwellers. 

To prevent rural residents from slipping back into poverty, rural industries with local features will be started to diversify farmers’ income channels. E-commerce has a major role in this. The boom in e-commerce has created new opportunities for rural development and both rural income and consumption have risen. 

According to Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Gao Feng, domestic online sales of agricultural products totaled 230.5 billion yuan ($34.4 billion) in 2018, up 33.8 percent from the previous year. Online retail sales amounted to 1.37 trillion yuan ($201.47 billion) in rural areas with a year-on-year growth of 30.4 percent, indicating the consumption potential of rural buyers. 

Developing the digital economy in rural areas will support agricultural development and reduce the urban-rural income gap, Qu Dongyu, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said. 

Poverty alleviation also requires new jobs and vocational training for rural labor forces, the document notes. New businesses will be encouraged and supporting platforms built up in rural areas. 

Apart from raising the rural income, measures will be taken to upgrade rural life. Infrastructure, including roads, grids and logistics networks, will be improved, pollution treatment enhanced, and public services such as education, culture, healthcare and social security boosted. 

A more open market 

Foreign investment in various sectors, including modern agriculture, is being encouraged, according to a draft list of encouraged industries for foreign investment released on February 1. 

The policy document says agricultural cooperation with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative will be enhanced. Imports of agricultural products in short supply domestically will be expanded and import channels diversified. More multinational agricultural corporations will be fostered. 

According to Jiao Shanwei, Editor in Chief of the grain portal Cngrain.com, China has been opening wider to foreign investors in the agricultural sector over the past two years. “Foreign enterprises’ participation will help modernize the agricultural sector, achieve sustainable development of land, and improve the quality of domestic agricultural output,” he said. 

China produces only 16 million tons of soybeans domestically every year while the domestic demand can reach 110 million tons annually. Of this, about 90 percent has to be met through imports, making China the world’s largest soybean importer, according to official data. The document says domestic soybean production will be expanded by increasing planting areas. 

Yin Ruifeng, an analyst with MARA, said rice and corn produce a greater net profit than soybean. The output and quality of domestic soybean can be improved only by harnessing advanced technology. 

According to the soybean rejuvenation plan proposed in the document, planting will be increased in the traditional soybean-growing regions of Heilongjiang, Anhui and Henan provinces. The target is to expand the soybean-planting area to 9.33 million hectares and increase the soybean self-sufficiency rate by 1 percentage point by 2020. 

According to Han, China’s soybean supplies will still partially rely on imports given its large domestic demands. 

“Along with other sources, the United States will continue to be an important partner of China in terms of the soybean trade,” he said.