China's output of early rice rose 1.2 percent year on year to reach 28.52 million tonnes in 2025, laying a solid foundation for stabilizing annual grain production, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday.
Among the country's major grain producing provinces, Jiangxi, Hunan, and Guangdong achieved restorative growth with increases in early rice output this year after experiencing a decline in 2024 due to disasters.
Their early rice output grew by 2.4 percent, 1.8 percent, and 1.0 percent, respectively.
In addition, the yield of early rice per mu (about 0.067 hectares) this year has reached 400.8 kilograms, exceeding 400 kilograms for the first time and reflecting a 1.5 percent increase from the previous year.
This year, severe drought during the spring sowing season in some regions hampered the timely transplanting of early rice. Consequently, some farmers switched to other crops, leading to a slight reduction in the early rice sowing area.
However, thanks to a series of supportive policies introduced by the Chinese government, the total planting area for early rice in the country remained stable at 71.14 million mu (about 4.74 million hectares) despite earlier challenges. This is the sixth year in a row that the planting area has remained steady around 71 million mu.
Amid complex international environment and frequent extreme weather events around the world, China's early rice harvest has laid a solid foundation for stable grain production throughout the year, according to the NBS.
China achieves higher early rice output
A wind power project in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, which boasts the largest single-capacity turbines in the region, was connected to the grid on Monday, marking a breakthrough in the region's new energy development.
Single-capacity turbines are powerful, high-output wind turbines that can operate alone or in groups with other single-capacity turbines.
Built by the Xizang branch of Huadian New Energy Group, the project is situated at a maximum altitude of 5,370 meters in Qonggyai County, which is administered by Shannan City. It has 12 single-capacity turbines with a total output of 60 megawatts, supported by a grid-forming energy-storage system.
"Once fully operational, the wind farm is expected to generate 160 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, which can power approximately 120,000 households. A 12-megawatt to 48-megawatt-hour grid-type energy storage system has also been built to ensure clean energy power supply for the Xizang Autonomous Region this winter and next spring,” said Wang Shikui, a project manager at Huadian New Energy Group.
The project also involved the restoration of 360,000 square meters of local vegetation, ensuring infrastructure development progressed in step with ecological protection, according to its developers.
Xizang has established a comprehensive energy system with hydropower as its main power source, complemented by geothermal, wind and solar energy, among others. From 2015 to 2024, Xizang transmitted 15.8 billion kilowatt-hours of clean energy beyond the region.
Xizang wind farm with largest single-capacity turbines connected to grid
