Firmly grasp the initiative in ensuring food security—under the leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the people are working hard to accomplish this top-priority task.
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, September 22 — Headline: Firmly Grasping the Initiative in Food Security—The Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its Core Leads the People in Doing Well This Top-Priority Task.
Xinhua News Agency reporter
On September 23, the Autumn Equinox, China will celebrate its fifth Chinese Farmers’ Harvest Festival. Looking across the Great Wall and beyond, from north to south along the Yangtze River, rice waves ripple gently in the breeze, corn crops thrive beautifully, and fields are awash with scenes of bountiful harvests.
Food security ensures national stability. During his inspection of grain production in Sichuan this year, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “We have the confidence and the strength to firmly hold the Chinese people’s food bowl in our own hands.” Against the backdrop of this year’s COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukraine crisis, and frequent extreme weather events, China’s summer grain harvest has achieved an increase, and the autumn grain harvest, despite facing multiple challenges, is well-positioned and full of promise.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has regarded food security as the top priority in governing the country and administering state affairs. It has put forward a new vision of food security that ensures basic self-sufficiency in grain and absolute food security for the population, firmly grasping the initiative in food security and leading hundreds of millions of people down a path of food security with Chinese characteristics.
“Always keep the string of food security taut.”
Food security has drawn considerable attention this year. International grain prices have been fluctuating at high levels, and the prices of agricultural inputs have surged significantly. Last autumn’s flooding caused one-third of China’s winter wheat to be sown late, resulting in complex growth conditions. Whether the “ballast stone” of food security can remain stable is directly linked to the foundation of our economy.
During this year’s Two Sessions, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that we must never afford even the slightest complacency on the issue of food security. We must not assume that once we enter the stage of industrialization, the issue of food supply will become secondary or negligible. Nor should we rely solely on the international market to solve this problem. Instead, we must be prepared for a rainy day, always keep food security firmly in mind, and consistently adhere to the principle of self-reliance, basing ourselves on domestic resources, ensuring production capacity, pursuing moderate imports, and relying on scientific and technological advancements for support.
At the Longjia Nongle Planting Family Farm in Jiutai District, Changchun City, Jilin Province, farmers operate agricultural machinery to load harvested rice onto tractors (photographed on September 20, 2022). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Nan.
With a population of over 1.4 billion, feeding everyone is China’s biggest national condition.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has attended the Central Rural Work Conference three times and delivered important speeches, offering a series of guiding instructions on “agriculture, rural areas, and farmers” work as well as on grain production and food security.
At the Central Rural Work Conference held in December 2013, General Secretary Xi Jinping elaborated on five major issues related to “agriculture, rural areas, and farmers,” placing “ensuring China’s food security” at the top of the list. He emphasized that “as a country with a large population, addressing the issue of food supply has always been the paramount task in governing and administering the country.”
At the Central Rural Work Conference held in December 2017, General Secretary Xi Jinping made important arrangements for implementing the rural revitalization strategy, emphasizing the need to deepen structural reforms on the agricultural supply side and pursue a path of quality-driven agricultural development.
At the Central Rural Work Conference held in December 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping made important arrangements for “agriculture, rural areas, and farmers” work in the new development stage. Regarding firmly safeguarding food security, the General Secretary pointed out: “I have repeatedly emphasized that whether we have a little more or a little less grain is a tactical issue, whereas food security is a strategic issue. This year, in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ample supply of grain and essential agricultural and sideline products played an indispensable role, fully demonstrating this point.”
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Under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, from 2013 to 2022, ten consecutive No. 1 Central Documents comprehensively laid out policies for “agriculture, rural areas, and farmers” work and adopted a series of measures aimed at ensuring grain production and food security.
In Daping Village, Xunyang Subdistrict, Taoyuan County, Changde City, Hunan Province, workers operate agricultural machinery to level the land (photo taken by drone on February 17, 2022). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Sihan.
The foundation of grain production lies in cultivated land, its lifeline is water conservancy, its way forward is science and technology, and its driving force is policy.
To ensure this year’s grain production and implement the central government’s decisions and deployments, the central finance has allocated a total of 40 billion yuan in subsidies in three batches, helping to offset the increased costs of grain production caused by rising prices of agricultural inputs. Agricultural science and technology service personnel have been dispatched to fields and farms to help wheat crops transition from weak to robust growth. Departments including agriculture and rural affairs, water resources, emergency management, and meteorology have stepped up their coordination and early-warning efforts, tailoring drought-resistant measures to local conditions to mitigate disaster impacts...
As spring gives way to autumn, summer grain production has once again increased on last year’s already high base, and a bumper autumn harvest is in sight. This strongly demonstrates China’s comprehensive grain-production capacity and confirms that China has the measures and the capability to ensure stable and increased grain yields.
In a wheat field in Duanchong Village, Xiaomiao Town, Shushan District, Hefei City, Anhui Province, a harvester loads wheat onto a truck (photographed by drone on May 25, 2022). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhou Mu.
Over the past decade, various regions and departments have strictly upheld the red line of 1.8 billion mu of arable land, accelerated the construction of high-quality farmland, improved water conservancy infrastructure, promoted the development of modern seed industries and agricultural mechanization, and established sound guarantee mechanisms to boost farmers’ enthusiasm for grain production and local governments’ commitment to agriculture and food security. Relevant authorities have formulated regulations on the joint responsibility of Party and government for food security, along with accompanying assessment measures, thereby encouraging major grain-producing areas, major grain-consuming areas, and areas balancing production and sales to jointly shoulder the responsibility for ensuring food security. Localities have deepened structural reforms on the supply side of agriculture, steadily pursuing a path of quality-driven and green agriculture.
Over the past decade, China’s grain production capacity has reached a new milestone of an additional 100 billion jin, and an increasing number of green, high-quality grain products are now appearing on people’s dining tables. In 2021, grain output remained stable above 1.3 trillion jin for the seventh consecutive year, with per capita grain availability reaching 483 kilograms—exceeding the internationally recognized food security threshold of 400 kilograms. With ample national grain reserves, we have laid a solid foundation for steady and sustained economic and social development.
“Ensure that the 1.8 billion mu of cultivated land truly live up to their name.”
In the autumn on the Songliao Plain, a crisp golden breeze brings refreshing coolness, and a bountiful harvest is in sight, filling the air with the fragrant aroma of the black earth. In Quanyangou Village, Lishu Town, Lishu County, Jilin Province, the “Field Chief System” notice boards along the roadside are tall, eye-catching, and clearly laid out: from the county-level chief field officer down to the township-level and village-level field chiefs—names, titles, contact information, responsibilities, and goals—all are readily apparent at a glance.
Northeast China is one of the world’s major black soil regions. In July 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping set foot on the black soil of Lishu County and engaged in a detailed conversation with agricultural experts amid a cornfield, gaining an in-depth understanding of the “Lishu Model” for black soil conservation.
The General Secretary said with great earnestness: “We must take effective measures to protect the black soil—the ‘panda of cultivated land’—and pass it on to future generations.”
Food is the paramount necessity of the people, and land is the foundation of grain production. Our country does not have abundant arable land—accounting for only 9% of the world’s total—but we must feed nearly 20% of the world’s population. Consequently, the tension between people and land is a fundamental feature of our national conditions.
General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out that the foundation for ensuring national food security lies in arable land—the very lifeline of grain production. Farmers may transition away from agricultural activities, but arable land must not be converted to non-agricultural uses. If all arable land were to be converted to non-agricultural uses, we would lose the very foundation upon which our livelihoods depend.
During this year’s Two Sessions, General Secretary Xi Jinping once again emphasized the need to fully enforce the responsibility of local Party committees and governments at all levels for protecting arable land. The central government will sign “military orders” with localities on arable land protection, subjecting them to strict assessments and ensuring lifelong accountability, so as to ensure that the 1.8 billion mu of arable land truly live up to their designation.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Party, localities have rigorously implemented the requirements of the Party Central Committee and adopted the strictest system for protecting cultivated land, safeguarding it as carefully as we protect giant pandas.
In August 2019, the 12th Session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress adopted a decision to amend the Land Management Law. The term “permanent basic farmland” replaced the previous term “basic farmland,” reflecting the concept of permanent protection.
Last December, the Ministry of Natural Resources reported 100 criminal cases involving land violations, spanning 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities. More than 160 individuals—including corporate legal representatives and investors—were convicted and sentenced.
This is a meteorological monitoring device located in the 10,000-mu rice science and technology demonstration park in Fujin City, Heilongjiang Province (photographed on September 2, 2022). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Tao.
In protecting cultivated land, we must not only uphold the red lines but also improve its quality.
At the 2020 Central Rural Work Conference, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that building high-standard farmland is a crucial approach that must be firmly and unswervingly pursued. We must raise construction standards and improve quality to truly ensure stable yields regardless of drought or flood conditions and achieve high and steady productivity. We must make this determination absolutely clear and spare no effort in securing the necessary funding! Protecting black soil must be treated as a major priority, and we must make good use of and properly nurture this precious resource.
The Northeast Black Soil Region is a vital grain-producing base in China, accounting for approximately one-quarter of the nation’s total grain output. With a high rate of commercial grain production, it serves as an important source for ensuring the supply of the grain market and acts as a cornerstone for safeguarding national food security.
In June of this year, China enacted its first-ever national law on the protection of black soil. From the initial review to passage at the third reading, this “small, quick, and flexible” legislative effort took just half a year. In addition to enacting legislation for black-soil protection, various regions have also stepped up soil monitoring, introduced the “field chief system,” adopted conservation tillage practices, and increased the application of organic fertilizers—employing a multifaceted approach to safeguard our nation’s granary.
Currently, China has basically established a legal framework for farmland protection centered on the Land Management Law and its Implementation Regulations, the Land Reclamation Regulations, and the Regulations on the Protection of Basic Farmland. The Civil Code and the Criminal Law both provide clear provisions on farmland protection. The Food Security Law, which is currently being expedited, also places strong emphasis on the protection of farmland.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, our country has built a large number of high-standard farmlands—high-quality, well-managed fields that ensure both drought and flood resilience and consistently high yields—by advancing the construction of such farmlands. By the end of this year, the cumulative area of high-standard farmland will reach 1 billion mu, stably achieving a grain production capacity of over 1 trillion jin.
“Grip Chinese seeds firmly with your own hands.”
Seeds are the “chips” of agriculture. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “The fundamental solution to ensuring food security lies in science and technology. China’s agricultural technological progress is evident to all, yet we still have certain shortcomings—among them, the biggest shortcoming is our seeds. Seed security is closely linked to national security; we must be determined to strengthen China’s seed industry, achieve self-reliance and self-strengthening in seed technology, and ensure that our seed resources are independently controllable.”
Agricultural modernization hinges on seeds. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized the need to intensify research and development in superior seed technologies and rely on Chinese seeds to ensure China’s food security.
In April of this year, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Hainan and made his first stop at the Sanya Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory—the “brain” of the National Southern Breeding Research and Seed Development Base. The General Secretary said, “Only by firmly holding China’s seeds in our own hands can we ensure that we have a stable food supply and achieve food security.”
As early as four years ago, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited the National Southern Breeding Research and Seed Production Base. Walking along the field ridges, he entered the demonstration plot of “Chao You Qian Hao,” a super hybrid rice variety, and listened to agricultural scientists explain the rice crops. Hearing that the super hybrid rice varieties bred by Chinese researchers had repeatedly set world records for the highest rice yield per unit area, the General Secretary expressed great delight and emphasized: “We must be determined to strengthen China’s seed industry, accelerate the development of superior varieties with independent intellectual property rights, and ensure national food security from the very source.”
At the 2020 Central Economic Work Conference, “solving the issues related to seeds and arable land” was identified as one of the eight key tasks that must be prioritized in the inaugural year of the 14th Five-Year Plan. The conference emphasized the need to strengthen the protection and utilization of germplasm resources and to enhance the construction of seed banks. It called for respecting science, enforcing strict regulation, and promoting the industrial application of biological breeding in an orderly manner. Furthermore, it urged tackling the technological bottlenecks in seed sources and setting an ambitious goal of achieving a breakthrough in the seed industry.
In July 2021, the 20th Meeting of the Central Commission for Deepening Reform reviewed and approved the “Action Plan for Revitalizing the Seed Industry,” elevating seed security to a strategic level that is vital to national security. In March 2022, the newly revised Seed Law officially came into effect.
A single seed can change the world; a single technology can create a miracle.
In Xia Lou Village, Yaodian Town, Dengzhou City, Henan Province, agricultural technicians conduct wheat yield measurements in a wheat field (photographed on May 24, 2022). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Haoran.
General Secretary Xi Jinping’s series of major strategic deployments have provided clear guidance for the development of the seed industry. From the collection and conservation of germplasm resources to the breeding of breakthrough varieties and the R&D of cutting-edge breeding technologies—every link has been steadily and persistently pursued. As a result, China’s modern seed industry has achieved remarkable progress, paving the way for more superior varieties to thrive in fertile fields.
Today, China has established a “national team” of seed industry bases centered around three major national-level seed production and breeding hubs—Hainan, Gansu, and Sichuan—supported by 96 key seed-producing counties and 120 regional bases. The national-level bases’ capacity to supply seeds has now risen to 75%. New breakthroughs have been made in the selection and breeding of water-efficient wheat and high-quality rice varieties, and the coverage rate of superior crop varieties has reached over 96%, ensuring that China’s grain is primarily produced using Chinese seeds.
While leveraging technology to boost the development of the seed industry, we are also continuously stepping up efforts in areas such as agricultural machinery and agronomy, as well as the promotion of agricultural technologies, thereby steadily advancing the implementation of the strategies of "storing grain in the land" and "storing grain in technology."
In the high-altitude ecological dry-rice fields of Xujiazhuang, a natural village in Jinling Village, Pingmen Township, Chun'an County, Zhejiang Province, volunteer Party members are irrigating rice paddies that have been severely affected by drought (photographed on August 21, 2022). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xu Yu.
The newly constructed drainage channels are wide and unobstructed, and the fields are equipped with small meteorological stations and soil moisture sensors. Farmers can simply open their phones and use the “Cloud-Based Field Patrol” app to instantly determine whether their crops are lacking water or nutrients. By scanning a QR code, city dwellers can even find out exactly which plot of land in Miaoqian Village produced the grain they’re eating... In Miaoqian Village, Wugou Town, Eyu County, Huaibei City, Anhui Province—a nationally recognized major seed-producing county—tens of thousands of acres of fertile farmland are brimming with promise for a bountiful harvest.
Over the past decade, the contribution of scientific and technological progress to China’s agricultural development has increased by 7 percentage points, exceeding 61%. The comprehensive mechanization rates for the cultivation, planting, and harvesting of the three major grain crops—wheat, corn, and rice—have surpassed 97%, 90%, and 85%, respectively... The rapid advancement of agricultural science and technology has effectively ensured that grain production has remained stable at over 1.3 trillion jin year after year.
“We must ensure that farmers who grow grain can earn a decent income and reap real benefits.”
“I never would have imagined that the General Secretary would actually write back to an ordinary farmer like me!” On June 27 this year, General Secretary Xi Jinping wrote a letter in reply to Xu Congxiang, a large-scale grain grower from Taihe County, Anhui Province, leaving the local farmer both surprised and deeply moved.
In the high-yield demonstration field of the Congxiang Modern Agricultural Planting Specialized Cooperative in Taihe County, Anhui Province, Xu Congxiang (right) and his son Xu Jian (left), along with his grandson Xu Xudong, inspect the emergence of a new soybean variety (photographed on June 28, 2022). Photo by Zhou Mu, Xinhua News Agency.
Eleven years ago, when Xi Jinping visited Zhanghuai Village in Jiuxian Town, Taihe County, he took the opportunity to learn from Xu Congxiang and local villagers about wheat cultivation. This past summer, Xu Congxiang wrote a letter to General Secretary Xi Jinping, expressing his determination to continue his work in agricultural research and promotion, and to encourage more farmers to grow more grain—and to grow it well.
In his reply, the General Secretary said that over the years, the Party Central Committee has introduced a series of policies and measures to support grain production—precisely to ensure that the Chinese people’s food bowl remains firmly in their own hands, to enable grain farmers to earn a decent income and reap real benefits, and to help them lead increasingly better lives.
A single letter reveals General Secretary Xi Jinping’s deep concern for hundreds of millions of farmers and his high regard for food security.
To ensure food security for more than 1.4 billion people, we must squarely address the question of who will be farming.
At the 2013 Central Rural Work Conference, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “During my field investigations in rural areas, I found that in many villages, what I saw most often were elderly people and children—there were few young people, and even fewer young and middle-aged men.” “The problem of a lack of successors in agriculture is serious; this is indeed no cause for unfounded worry!”
At this meeting, the General Secretary emphasized, “To ensure stable development of grain production, we must make it profitable for farmers to grow grain and motivate major producing regions to actively engage in grain cultivation. In this regard, we need to both harness the role of market mechanisms and strengthen government support and protection.” “How can we achieve simultaneous growth in farmers’ incomes and grain yields? This is a key issue that deserves careful consideration.”
At the 2020 Central Rural Work Conference, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that a major weakness in grain production today is the relatively high production costs. The solution lies in innovating management approaches—cultivating well-developed family farms and farmer cooperatives, promoting moderately scaled operations, and improving specialized and socialized service systems. Tasks that individual households cannot handle effectively or would find uneconomical to undertake should be entrusted to socialized service organizations.
In accordance with the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping, since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, our country has introduced a series of policies aimed at strengthening agriculture and benefiting farmers. We have steadily raised the minimum procurement prices for rice and wheat, improved policies such as rice subsidies and producer subsidies for corn and soybeans, and promoted full coverage of comprehensive cost insurance and planting income insurance for the three major staple grains in all major grain-producing provinces and key grain-producing counties, ensuring that farmers can profit from growing grain and reap greater benefits.
Our country is stepping up efforts to support farmer education and training, fostering a coordinated development model that integrates higher agricultural education, higher vocational education, and the cultivation of high-quality farmers. Taking training programs as the key driver, we aim to train one million farmers each year, significantly improving the overall quality of farmers.
A combine harvester harvests wheat in a wheat field in Daquan Tatar Ethnic Township, Qitai County, Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang (photographed by drone on July 7, 2022). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Xiaocheng.
In recent years, various regions have innovated their management approaches by fostering well-run family farms and farmer cooperatives, promoting moderately scaled operations, and accelerating the establishment of a socialized service system. This has enabled advanced, suitable varieties, technologies, equipment, and organizational models to be introduced to smallholder farmers. As a result, more than 950,000 agricultural socialized service organizations have been cultivated, serving and supporting over 78 million smallholder households.
To reassure farmers, the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China explicitly stated that after the expiration of the second round of land contracts, they would be extended for another 30 years.
In 2014, the No. 1 Central Document clearly articulated the “separation of three rights” policy regarding rural land—namely, ownership, contract rights, and management rights—and proposed stabilizing rural land contract relationships and ensuring their long-term stability. In December 2018, at the seventh session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress, the newly revised Rural Land Contract Law was adopted by vote, thereby enshrining the “separation of three rights” for rural land into law. This major institutional innovation has laid a solid foundation for promoting the orderly transfer of land management rights, fostering various forms of large-scale grain production, and accelerating the development of agricultural modernization.
Ensuring food security for more than 1.4 billion people requires not only motivating farmers to actively grow grain but also fostering a societal culture of food conservation.
General Secretary Xi Jinping has consistently attached great importance to food conservation. He has issued numerous important instructions on the issue of food waste, repeatedly emphasizing the need to put a stop to wasteful dining practices and promote the building of a resource-efficient society. Moreover, he has set an example himself by championing throughout society a new ethos of "practicing thrift and opposing waste."
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, various regions and departments have continuously stepped up efforts to promote thrift and curb waste, achieving positive results. In October 2021, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Action Plan for Food Conservation," clearly stating that by 2025, measures to conserve grain and reduce losses throughout all links of the grain industry chain will be further strengthened, made more concrete, and refined, thereby driving even more significant achievements in food conservation and loss reduction.
Of all things in the world, eating comes first.
In the golden autumn season, the fields of hope are filled with the scent of a bountiful harvest. Under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, hundreds of millions of Chinese people, through their diligent efforts and relentless struggles, will surely firmly safeguard grain production and food security—the nation’s paramount concern—and ensure that the Chinese people’s rice bowls remain firmly in their own hands!
