Investment to help protect farmland

At least 124.33 million hectares of arable land is to be retained by 2020

China will invest 600 billion yuan ($87.5 billion) in the next four years to enhance farmland protection and improve farmland facilities, an official said on Tuesday, as the country is set to encourage more private capital to participate in the farmland improvement process.

Han Jun, deputy director of the Office of the Central Leading Group for Rural Work, said a national effort to increase the area of well-facilitated farmland from the current 26.7 million hectares to 53.3 million hectares by 2020 could cost about 600 billion yuan, and authorities will encourage private capital to take part in the process. The group is China's top rural affairs decision-making agency.