On Sunday, the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee
and State Council jointly published a set of general aims to
strengthen overall agricultural production capacity this year.
The intention is to improve infrastructure and accelerate
progress in science and technology, and will require coordinated
development between urban and rural areas. It will also strive for
stable food growth and sustained increases in farmers' incomes.
The nine strands listed in the document were:
To further motivate farmers by stabilizing and enhancing
policies to prop up agricultural development;
To resolutely implement rigid practices to protect farmland and
raise the quality of its use;
To strengthen water conservation and ecological construction
whilst increasing capacity;
To accelerate innovation in science and technology;
To speed up construction of rural infrastructure and establish a
better environment for development;
To continue to adapt economic structures and increase
competitive power;
To reform and improve rural investment and financing
systems;
To improve the competency of rural laborers and promote the
all-round development of farmers and rural society; and
To reinforce and improve the leadership of the CPC over rural
work.
(China Daily January 31, 2005)