China's supply of important agricultural products to improve: report

China's capabilities to ensure supply and security of grain and other important agricultural products will be comprehensively improved in the next 10 years, as predicted in an outlook report released on Sunday by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

According to the "China Agricultural Outlook Report (2025-2034)," the government continued to increase its support for grain production this year, raising the minimum purchase price of wheat and early indica rice, and stabilizing subsidies for corn and soybean producers and rice subsidies. It is estimated that the intended grain planting area this year will be 1.787 billion mu (about 119 million hectares), and the grain yield per unit area will continue to increase.

"We will carry out large-scale yield enhancement campaign for grain and oil crops, and promote the integration of good fields, good seeds, good machinery and good methods, to accelerate the construction of high-standard farmland. We will also focus on promoting varieties such as special wheat varieties with strong and weak gluten, and corn that is resistant to high planting density and suitable for machine harvesting. The grain yield per unit area will reach 397 kilograms, an increase of 2.3 kilograms over the previous year. The total grain output for the whole year is expected to be 709 million tons, higher than the previous year," said Xu Shiwei, a research fellow from the Institution of Agricultural Information under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

The report predicts that in the next 10 years, a systematic breakthrough will be made in the new quality productive forces in the agricultural field, and the supply and security of grain and important agricultural products will be improved in all aspects, both in quantity and quality.

"We will advance research in key areas of agricultural science and technology, push forward major projects in agricultural biobreeding, accelerate the cultivation of breakthrough varieties such as wheat varieties resistant to ergot, and high-oil, high-protein and high-yield soybeans. We will also vigorously develop smart agriculture, and expand the application scenarios of artificial intelligence in agriculture. In the next 10 years, grain production will grow steadily and is expected to reach 753 million tons by 2034," Xu said.

China's supply of important agricultural products to improve: report

Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez said on Sunday that the country is at a critical stage and must achieve national unity, emphasizing that maintaining internal cohesion is of utmost importance.

In a televised address, Rodriguez called on the public to continue trusting the government under the current highly complex political circumstances.

Her statement comes in the wake of a January 3 military operation conducted by the United States, during which Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were taken into custody and flown out of the country.

The operation resulted in at least 100 fatalities.

Rodriguez, who was sworn in as acting president two days later on January 5, framed her appeal for unity against this backdrop of external intervention.

Meanwhile, Venezuelan Minister of Communication and Information Freddy Nanez denounced the U.S. actions as a "war crime of the 21st century" when speaking at an international cultural event on Sunday.

Nanez condemned not only the January 3 airstrikes but also the associated cyber and electromagnetic attacks.

He accused the United States of violating international law through the forced removal of President Maduro and his wife, while attacks on civilian infrastructure, including medical facilities, represent a flagrant breach of humanitarian norms.

He reiterated that the stigmatization and military attacks against Venezuela are driven by economic interests, particularly the desire to control its abundant natural resources.

Venezuelan acting president calls for national unity amid complex situation