'No 1 Central Document' issued for 2023

The Communist Party of China Central Committee and State Council on Monday unveiled the highly anticipated "No 1 Central Document" for the year, which pledged to advance the national strategy of rural vitalization with the whole of the Party's strength and accelerate the modernization process in rural regions, according to Xinhua News Agency.

In a summary of the document published by Xinhua, central authorities said the CPC Central Committee has agreed work related to agriculture, rural villages and farmers will be the most important among the Party's key tasks, and cannot risk any mistakes.

The "most arduous task" in building China into a modern socialist country are those associated with the nation's rural areas, the document read. The text has nine sections, with topics ranging from food production to rural infrastructure development to boosting rural industry.

The document called for efforts to safeguard national food security and prevent farmers from sliding back to poverty en masse. It also asked local authorities to advance rural development, construction and governance, speed up building China into a global agricultural powerhouse and turn the Chinese countryside into a harmonious place suitable for living and doing business.

Xinhua said the document was the 20th "No 1 central document" this century that has focused on agricultural and rural affairs.