Smooth summer harvest, sowing guarantee realization of annual grain production target: NDRC

China's summer harvest and sowing have smoothly entered the final stage, guaranteeing the realization of this year's grain production target, said Li Chao, spokeswoman for the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), on Thursday.

Speaking at a press conference held in Beijing, Li said that as China's winter wheat producing areas, especially Shaanxi and Henan, have suffered from droughts of varying degrees since spring, local governments have taken a series of drought fighting measures and made every effort to ensure the production of summer grain and other agricultural products.

According to relevant authorities, the summer harvest and sowing across the country have entered the final stage, with the large-scale mechanized harvest of summer wheat basically ending, said Li, adding that the summer harvest process is going smoothly, said Li.

She said that, so far, China has built a total of over 66.7 million hectares of high-standard farmland, with the farmland area with complete irrigation facilities and access to adequate water resources having been expanded to more than 72 million hectares, significantly enhancing the drought resistance, flood prevention and disaster reduction capabilities of agricultural production.

By the end of last year, the comprehensive mechanization rate of crops plowing, planting and harvesting exceeded 75 percent, and the contribution rate of agricultural scientific and technological progress exceeded 63 percent, said Li.

"In general, after years of efforts, the foundation of China's grain production has been continuously strengthened, and there is a guarantee for achieving this year's grain production target. In the next step, in collaboration with relevant authorities, we will advance the follow-up work such as summer field management and summer grain purchase and continue our efforts in ensuring the production of early rice and autumn grains, so as to guarantee a stable and bountiful grain production throughout the year," said Li.

Smooth summer harvest, sowing guarantee realization of annual grain production target: NDRC

The United States cannot legitimize an operation that attacked Venezuela and captured its president, a Chinese scholar said Sunday.

On Saturday, the United States launched a large-scale strike on Venezuela, during which Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were 'captured and flown out of Venezuela' according to a post by U.S. President Donald Trump on his Truth Social account.

Teng Jianqun, director of the Center for Diplomatic Studies at Hunan Normal University, said in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) that the aim of this operation is to take full control of Venezuela’s natural resources.

"I don't think the United States can legitimize this operation to take custody of the president of Venezuela. And also I don't think the United States can legitimize its any action in taking the oil reserves of that country. This is actually a very dangerous game played by the Trump administration. And of course, the United States would like to take full control of that country and to take full control of the natural resources, especially the large reserve of oil in Venezuela," said Teng.

Teng said Venezuela is not an isolated case but a common practice by the United States. The United States launched an invasion of Panama on Dec. 20, 1989, which continued until January 1990, with the stated objective of capturing Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega on charges of drug trafficking and organized crime.

"We still remember the so-called sentence of the former president of Panama in the late 1980s. And this time, the president of Venezuela will be under some judicial condition (judicial proceedings) for the so-called drug trafficking and some other crimes. So I think this is not a single case for the Venezuela country, but also this is actually a practice by the United States -- to use force, to use so-called justice under law against any leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean waters," he said.

US cannot legitimize operation against Venezuela: Chinese scholar