Xi emphasizes priority of farmland

Local authorities told to push rural vitalization, guard food security

President Xi Jinping stressed the importance of implementing a rural vitalization strategy and ensuring food security while joining a discussion with deputies to the National People's Congress from Henan province on Friday.

For a country with nearly 1.4 billion people, China must remain highly vigilant on food security issues, said Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission.

Calling Henan a major agricultural producer, Xi instructed the local government to build the province into a core food production zone and steadily increase its production capacity.