China made solid progress in its endeavors concerning agriculture, rural areas and farmers in 2024, securing food production by tiding over natural disasters and further narrowing the income gap between urban and rural residents, according to Han Wenxiu, executive deputy director of the Office of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs, on Monday.
Han made the remarks at a press briefing one day after the "No. 1 central document" for 2025 was unveiled, which outlines the priorities for further deepening rural reforms and taking solid steps in advancing all-around rural revitalization.
As the first policy statement released by China's central authorities each year, the document is seen as an indicator of policy priorities.
"Over the past year, we have overcome the adversary impact brought by severe natural disasters, and made remarkable achievements in the work related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers. Grain and key agricultural products saw stable and increased output. The annual grain output reached a record high, breaking through 1.4 trillion jin (700 billion kilograms) for the first time. Soybean production remained above 20 million tonnes. The supply of grain is more abundant, the variety of vegetables is richer and the supply of all types of agricultural products is sufficient," Han said.
"The achievements of poverty alleviation have been continuously consolidated. The per capita disposable income of rural residents in formerly poverty-stricken counties grew faster than the national average. The employment for formerly impoverished population remained stable with a slight increase. We have ensured that no large-scale lapsing or relapsing into poverty occurs," the official said.
"Farmers' incomes have continued to grow at a steady pace. In 2024, the per capita disposable income of rural residents reached 23,119 yuan (about 3,200 U.S. dollars), with a real year-on-year increase of 6.3 percent. The urban-to-rural income gap further narrowed to a ratio of 2.34:1. Additionally, the development of beautiful and harmonious places for people to live and work in has been steadily advanced, with rapid improvements in infrastructure and public services. Some 130,000 kilometers of rural roads were newly built or renovated, tap water coverage in rural areas reached 94 percent, and express delivery services were extended to over 95 percent of administrative villages. All these have brought tangible improvements to rural livelihood," he said.
The document consists of six parts covering six areas: ensuring the supply of grain and other important agricultural products, consolidating the achievements of poverty elimination, developing local industries, advancing rural construction, improving the rural governance system, and optimizing the rural resource allocation system.
This is the 13th "No. 1 central document" on agricultural and rural work since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, underscoring the great importance China's top leadership attaches to agricultural modernization, rural revitalization as well as farmers' livelihoods.
Income gap between urban, rural residents further narrows: official
