Importance of rural work accentuated

China held its annual central rural work conference from Saturday to Sunday in Beijing.

The conference analyzed the current situation and identified the pressing issues related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers and mapped out the work plan for the next year.

President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, presided over a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on issues related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers, and delivered an important speech before the two-day conference.

As Xi said, the steady development of agriculture and rural areas must be ensured in responding to multiple risks and challenges.

The meeting, which centered on food security and self-reliance, reflects the current complicated situation both at home and abroad.

Ensuring the supply of primary goods is a major strategic issue, and authorities at various levels must make efforts to safeguard grain security and protect farmland, make down-to-earth structural adjustments, expand the planting of soybean and oil crops, as well as ensure the supplies of pork, vegetables and other agricultural and sideline products.

The meeting vowed that the country will maintain a stable grain output exceeding 1.3 trillion jin (650 billion kilograms) in 2022－a level China has maintained for six years, and urged the country to increase its output in soybeans and oilseeds.

China's retaining of a high-level of food security will also contribute positively to global food supplies, as the large population in China has a relatively high demand for food. President Xi said that stable domestic agricultural prices and abundant food supply will also establish a solid foundation to ensure the stability of the global economy in 2022.

The meeting's call for expanding production of soybeans and oilseeds－for which China largely relies on imports from the US－are also a clear signal that it is seeking to strengthen its self-reliance in response to the deteriorating China-US relations.

With the country's continuous efforts to expand the production capacity of both crops by increasing planting areas and yields, China's reliance on imports is declining, while demand and supply for soybeans have gradually stabilized.

Meanwhile, rural vitalization is the premise to consolidate the achievements of poverty alleviation. It is important that governments at various levels make continuous efforts to ensure no large-scale return to poverty, and safeguard and consolidate the remarkable achievements of China's antipoverty fight.

- XINHUA NEWS AGENCY