China makes breakthrough in grain output in 2021-2025 period: minister

China has made a breakthrough in grain output and better ensured its food security during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), said Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Han Jun on Tuesday.

Han made the remarks at a press conference hosted by the State Council Information Office on the achievements in agricultural and rural development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.

"China has better ensured that food supply remains firmly in its own hands for its 1.4 billion people (during the 14th Five-Year Plan period). The country's grain output has reached a new level during the period, with the total grain output exceeding 1.4 trillion jin (700 million tonnes) for the first time in 2024, an increase of 74 billion jin (37 million tonnes) from 2020. Now China's per capita share of grain has reached 500 kilograms, and our country has achieved basic self-sufficiency in cereal grains and absolute grain security, which fully guarantees national food security," said Han.

According to official data, the rise in production has been underpinned by improvements in farmland infrastructure and agricultural technology.

China has developed more than one billion mu (66.7 million hectares) of high-standard farmland. Meanwhile, sci-tech advancement has become a key driver for grain harvest, with its contribution rate rising to 63.2 percent.

Meanwhile, farmers' incomes have grown at a robust pace since 2021, with rural per capita disposable income reaching 23,119 yuan (about 3,255 U.S. dollars) in 2024, according to the press conference.

China's 2024 grain output hit a record high of 706.5 million tonnes, an increase of 1.6 percent from 2023, official data showed.

Before 2024, the country's annual grain output had been above 650 million tonnes for nine consecutive years, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

In grain categories, the output of cereals rose 1.7 percent year on year, with rice, wheat and corn all reporting production rises. The output of tubers rose 1.5 percent, the data showed.

Last year's bumper harvest was accompanied by a rise in grain planting areas in the country, which stood at over 119 million hectares, up 0.3 percent year on year. Meanwhile, grain output per unit area also increased 1.3 percent, the data showed.

China makes breakthrough in grain output in 2021-2025 period: minister

Many protesters gathered outside the National Diet in Tokyo on Friday to protest against the government's moves to revise constitution and accelerate military expansion.

Holding placards and chanting anti-war, anti-constitutional revision and anti-military expansion slogans, the protesters demanded Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to step down.

Protesters said that recent moves by the Japanese government, such as lifting its ban on lethal arms exports and pushing for the revision of its three security documents, have made them feel worried.

"The Japanese government should not pursue militarism. Instead, it should engage more in promoting peaceful relations -- that is, peaceful diplomacy. The fact that politicians are rushing in that direction for their own short-term interests is very frightening," said a protester.

"My hometown is in Shizuoka Prefecture. By the time I realized what was happening, Japan's Self-Defense Forces had already deployed weapons and missiles there. I really can't accept this. Instead of focusing on weapons, they should concentrate on people's basic needs: food, hospitals, and medical system. When I think about how gasoline, electricity, and gas bills will all go up, I feel anxious about the future," another protester said.

Protesters also said that Japan must face up to history and oppose the Takaichi administration's renewed push for constitutional revision.

"I oppose revising the constitution. [The Japanese government] is trying to erase various aspects of history. I believe the government's current moves are destroying the trust in Japan which has been built up over the years. I oppose constitutional revision," said a third protester.

"We should protect the two provisions of Article 9 of Japan's constitution. But now, Takaichi advocated including the Self-Defense Forces in the constitution. And some policies towards China are quite [unacceptable]. It has been made quite clear that we 'cannot have an army' and that 'we should focus on defense exclusively'. But those moves are no longer 'exclusively defense-oriented'. I feel a strong sense of crisis about this," said one more protester.

Japanese citizens gather in Tokyo to protest against military expansion, constitutional revision