The 13th Central Document No. 1 guiding “agriculture, rural areas, and farmers” work since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China—the "Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Further Deepening Rural Reform and Solidly Promoting All-round Rural Revitalization"—was authorized for release by Xinhua News Agency on the 23rd.

  This year marks the concluding year of the 14th Five-Year Plan and also the final year of the five-year transition period aimed at consolidating and expanding the achievements made in poverty alleviation and effectively linking them with rural revitalization. Where should we focus our efforts to promote the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas? Our reporter interviewed several experts and scholars.

   Hold firmly onto China’s “food bowl” and ensure stable and abundant grain production.

  In 2024, China’s grain production exceeded 1.4 trillion jin for the first time, further solidifying the foundation of food security. How can we achieve stable and abundant grain production on an already high base?

  This year’s No. 1 Central Document clearly calls for “continuously strengthening the capacity to ensure the supply of important agricultural products, including grain.”

  “Ensuring national food security is a perennial challenge. Even after grain production has reached a new milestone, we must by no means relax our efforts in grain production,” said Li Guoxiang, a researcher at the Institute of Rural Development of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Last year, yield increases contributed as much as 80% to the overall rise in grain production. The recently released document calls for a further deepening of initiatives aimed at significantly boosting per-unit yields of grain and oil crops across large areas. This underscores the need for us to focus squarely on enhancing yields through the use of superior varieties and advanced agricultural technologies, thereby improving production efficiency. At the same time, we must adapt to changing consumer trends among the people and continuously enhance the quality of agricultural products.

  He believes that whether it’s about increasing yields or improving quality, varieties play a crucial role. We must intensify research and innovation in seed technology to develop more high-yielding, high-quality varieties. By promoting high-standard farmland construction with high quality, upgrading and enhancing agricultural machinery and other technological equipment, and coordinating supporting measures—including harvesting, transportation, and storage—after production, we can ensure stable and abundant grain yields.

  Farmland is the lifeblood of food production. The document proposes incorporating all types of farmland use into unified management under the principle of balance between occupation and compensation, and explicitly calls for “continuously addressing issues such as ‘greenhouse housing,’ encroachment on farmland for ‘lake creation and landscape development,’ and unauthorized occupation of farmland for housing construction.”

  The interviewed experts stated that once cultivated land is severely damaged, it becomes difficult and costly to restore. Localities should draw on past experiences and lessons learned, strictly enforce total control over cultivated land, adhere to the principle of "compensating for occupied land," and systematically and categorizedly address the issue of converting cultivated land from grain production to other uses.

  Hu Shuwen, a professor at the College of Resources and Environment of China Agricultural University, has long been committed to removing salt and alkali from saline-alkali lands. He believes that to effectively implement the document’s call for “steadily advancing pilot programs for the comprehensive utilization of saline-alkali lands,” we must adopt strategies tailored to local conditions and employ a multi-pronged approach. We need to promote collaborative research efforts among agricultural science and technology institutions, accelerate the large-scale application and dissemination of scientific and technological achievements, and remain steadfast in our commitment to the extensive improvement and management of saline-alkali lands, thereby turning more such lands into high-yield fields.

  Cheng Guoqiang, a professor at Renmin University of China and director of the National Institute for Food Security Strategy, noted that the document not only proposes strengthening the policy system supporting grain production to boost farmers’ enthusiasm for growing grain across different regions, but also explicitly calls for improving the coordination mechanism between agricultural product trade and production.

  He stated that perfecting the coordination mechanism between agricultural product trade and production must be grounded in ensuring stable domestic production and supply. It is essential to strengthen the balance between agricultural supply and demand and enhance monitoring and early warning across the entire supply chain, accurately identifying supply-demand gaps and pinpointing key areas for regulation. We should optimize the layout of import sources and dynamically adjust the scale and pace of imports, striking a balance between market supply and price stability. Furthermore, we need to achieve a higher level of integrated and smooth dual circulation—both domestically and internationally—safeguard farmers’ interests and maintain their enthusiasm for grain production, and firmly establish the bottom line of food security through openness.

   Multiple measures to boost income and continuously consolidate and expand the achievements in poverty alleviation.

  Ensuring that large-scale relapse into poverty does not occur is the bottom-line task for doing a good job in “agriculture, rural areas, and farmers” work.

  “Promptly include farming households at risk of falling back into poverty or becoming impoverished into support programs,” “Coordinate the identification and verification of low-income rural residents and those at risk of falling back into or becoming impoverished,” “Establish a tiered and categorized assistance system”... As we enter the final year of the five-year transition period aimed at effectively linking the consolidation and expansion of poverty alleviation achievements with rural revitalization, these documents lay out targeted measures for this work.

  Zhao Wanping, Vice President of the Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, stated that these measures are an inevitable requirement for consolidating and expanding the achievements made in poverty alleviation and for improving the support system for low-income rural populations. They will promote more precise and targeted implementation of assistance policies, help enhance resource allocation efficiency, and facilitate the improvement and enhancement of regular assistance efforts following the transition period.

  The Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Further Deepening Reform in a Comprehensive Manner and Promoting Chinese-style Modernization, adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, calls for establishing a long-term management mechanism for assets formed by national investments in poverty alleviation efforts. This year’s No. 1 Central Document has laid out specific arrangements for this work, proposing a comprehensive inventory of assets generated by national investments in poverty alleviation and the establishment of a unified ledger for asset registration and management.

  Zhang Shu, an associate researcher at the Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, believes that establishing a sound, long-term management mechanism for this asset is both necessary and urgent. Such a mechanism will provide crucial support for shifting subsequent assistance policies from “phased transition” to “long-term, sustained assistance,” thereby promoting the implementation and effectiveness of higher-quality assistance policies.

  An important yardstick for assessing the effectiveness of rural development work is whether farmers’ incomes have increased. According to experts, the document focuses on enhancing farmers’ ability to increase their income and become prosperous by emphasizing efforts such as developing “local specialties” and strengthening “community-based initiatives.”

  How can we do a good job of leveraging “local specialties”? Zhang Shu stated that localities should build on their own resource endowments, persist in promoting the full industrial-chain development of specialty agricultural products, foster and strengthen industrial clusters, continuously enhance the added value of these industries, and ensure that these industries have a promising future with real economic potential.

  Not only should we make the cake bigger, but we should also distribute it fairly. The document clearly states that policies supporting new types of agricultural business entities should be closely linked to mechanisms that boost farmers’ incomes, and that linking these entities with farmers should serve as a key criterion for policy prioritization. Zhao Wanping said this approach will help foster a positive pattern in which new agricultural business entities and farmers complement each other’s strengths and collaborate effectively along the industrial chain, enabling farmers to steadily shoulder the “golden shoulder pole” of increased income and prosperity.

   Build beautiful villages and continuously improve both physical infrastructure and the soft environment.

  The vast countryside is the home of the peasant population. Regarding the construction of both “hard infrastructure” and “soft environment” in rural areas, the No. 1 Central Document has laid out specific arrangements:

  Promote the integrated development of urban and rural water supply in a categorized manner, scale up centralized water supply systems, and standardize the construction of small-scale water supply systems. Continuously drive high-quality development of the “Four Good Rural Roads” initiative. Advance the integrated development of passenger, freight, and postal services in rural areas. Strengthen the construction of comprehensive delivery and logistics service stations at the village level...

  “These are policy measures taken in the broader context and under the major trend of urban-rural integration,” said Kong Xiangzhi, a professor at Renmin University of China. We should coordinate urban and rural planning and spatial layouts at the county level, promote the organic integration of comprehensive rural revitalization with new-type urbanization, address the shortcomings in rural infrastructure, and actively advance the integrated development of urban and rural infrastructure.

  Rural areas should not only be livable but also beautiful—and this is inseparable from building a “soft environment” for rural development.

  The document proposes strengthening the development of civilized rural customs—for instance, promoting the establishment of special protection zones for traditional villages, enhancing the protection, inheritance, and revitalization of rural cultural heritage, and deeply implementing projects for the preservation of rural cultural relics. Qiu Tongwei, an associate professor at Nanjing Agricultural University, believes that strengthening the development of civilized rural customs will have a series of positive impacts on rural development, helping to carry forward the agricultural civilization, boosting the morale and vitality of farmers, and providing spiritual support for the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas.

  Meanwhile, the document also calls for promoting the transformation of customs and practices in rural areas. Experts and scholars point out that outdated and harmful practices such as exorbitant bride prices and competitive displays of social obligations not only undermine social norms and increase the burden on farmers but also give rise to a host of factors contributing to social instability and disharmony. All localities should therefore promote the transformation of rural customs and practices, fostering civilized village customs, positive family traditions, and simple, honest folkways.

  The implementation of all policies for the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas ultimately depends on the grassroots Party organizations in rural communities. The document explicitly emphasizes strengthening the building of grassroots Party organizations in rural areas and proposes measures such as “maintaining stability in the tenure of members of county-level Party and government leadership teams” and “focusing on addressing the issue of some young cadres struggling to adapt to the local conditions at the grassroots level in rural areas.” Experts believe that these measures will help grassroots Party organizations better shoulder their political responsibilities and promote the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas with greater sense of responsibility and stronger efforts.