Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, January 20th. Title: Support development and solidly promote connection - focus on the "report card" of the "three rural issues" work

Xinhua News Agency reporter Gu Yiping

On January 20, the State Council Information Office held a series of press conferences on "China's High-Quality Development Achievements" in Beijing. Zhang Xingwang, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Pan Wenbo, Chief Agronomist of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and Director of the Planting Industry Management Department (Pesticide Management Department), and Chen Bangxun, Director of the Development Planning Department, introduced the relevant situation of "consolidating the basic foundation of the 'three rural' and solidly promoting the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas" and answered reporters' questions. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Pan Xu

Grain production increased by 22.18 billion jin compared with 2023, the employment scale of poverty-stricken labor workers exceeded 33 million, and the per capita disposable income of rural residents increased by 6.3% compared with 2023... At the series of press conferences on the "Achievements of China's High-Quality Economic Development" held by the State Council Information Office on the 20th, Zhang Xingwang, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, introduced that in 2024, my country's grain production reached a new level, farmers' income grew steadily, and rural society was harmonious and stable, providing strong support for promoting high-quality economic and social development.

Specifically, in 2024, my country's grain production overcomes the impact of natural disasters such as high temperature drought, extreme floods, and super typhoons, and has achieved another bumper harvest. Grain production exceeded 1.4 trillion jin for the first time, reaching 1.413 trillion jin, and China's rice bowl contained more Chinese grain. The "three-year foundation" task of the seed industry revitalization action was successfully completed, and the germplasm resources were fully understood. Rural industries that enrich the people are booming, and the operating income of agricultural product processing enterprises above a certain scale nationwide is expected to exceed 18 trillion yuan. The per capita disposable income of rural residents reached 23,119 yuan. The key tasks of rural reform are steadily advancing. The second round of land contracts has been steadily promoted in Anhui, Hunan and Guangxi provinces and regions to extend the entire province for another 30 years after the expiration. The pilot work is carried out in an orderly manner in counties and townships in other provinces, and the contracted land of most farmers in the pilot areas is generally postponed.

In addition, in 2024, my country will also steadily promote the construction of livable, business-friendly and beautiful villages. The rural living environment continues to improve, the penetration rate of sanitary toilets has reached about 75%, the proportion of administrative villages where domestic waste is collected, transported and treated, remains stable at more than 90%, and the domestic sewage treatment (control) rate has reached more than 45%. The level of public services such as rural roads, water supply, postage and other infrastructure, and education, medical care and elderly care are constantly improving.

2025 is the last year for the five-year transition period for consolidating and expanding the results of poverty alleviation and effectively connecting with rural revitalization. How is the current progress of this work?

Zhang Xingwang said that since the transition period, through joint efforts of all parties, the results of poverty alleviation have continued to be consolidated and expanded, and no large-scale relapse into poverty has occurred. There are four main achievements: the bottom line is stronger. As of the end of November 2024, a total of 5.34 million monitoring objects to prevent relapse into poverty were steadily eliminated risks; the industry has become stronger. 832 poverty-stricken counties have cultivated and formed 2 to 3 leading industries, with a total output value of more than 1.7 trillion yuan. Nearly three-quarters of the poverty-stricken population have established an interest linkage mechanism with new agricultural operators; employment has stabilized. As of the end of 2024, the number of people employed by poverty-stricken laborers has reached 33.05 million, which has stabilized at more than 30 million for four consecutive years; income has increased. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that in the first three quarters of 2024, the per capita disposable income of farmers in poverty-stricken counties reached 12,384 yuan, an actual increase of 6.5% over the same period last year.

Zhang Xingwang said that in 2025, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will do a solid job in consolidating and expanding the results of poverty alleviation and effectively connecting it with rural revitalization, study and plan regular assistance policies and measures after the transition period, and firmly maintain the bottom line of preventing large-scale poverty relapse.

First, optimize monitoring and assistance to improve efficiency. Accelerate the construction of a big data information system for monitoring and assistance to prevent relapse into poverty and poverty that covers rural populations, and rely more on the combination of independent declarations from farmers, departmental screening and early warnings, and daily visits of grassroots cadres to carry out monitoring and identification, and carry out targeted assistance according to individuals and households.

The second is to strengthen industrial employment assistance and improve quality. Guide local governments to promote the high-quality development of assistance industries according to local conditions, improve the mechanism for connecting farmers and leading farmers, and make the assistance industries a prosperous industry that continuously drives income growth. Deepen the campaign to prevent poverty and employment, deepen labor cooperation between the eastern and western regions, improve the quality of employment training, and ensure that the scale of poverty-stricken labor workers is stable at more than 30 million.

The third is to deepen assistance and promote development in key areas. Focus on key areas such as national key counties for rural revitalization and resettlement areas for poverty alleviation relocation, deepen cooperation between the east and west and targeted assistance from central units, and deepen the "Ten Thousand Enterprises to Prosper Ten Thousand Villages" action, so that poverty-stricken areas and people who have been lifted out of poverty will not fall behind or catch up on the road to comprehensive rural revitalization.