China's agricultural and rural development maintains steady growth in 2025: official

China

China's agricultural and rural development maintains steady growth in 2025: official

2026-01-22 13:51 Last Updated At：20:17

China's agricultural and rural development maintained steady and positive momentum in 2025, according to an official from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

At a press briefing held on Thursday by the State Council Information Office, Zhang Xingwang, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said that grain production achieved another bumper harvest.

"By implementing a new round of initiatives for increasing grain production capacity by 50 million metric tons, we overcame adverse weather conditions such as local droughts, floods, and persistent rains. Grain output reached about 714.9 million tonnes, an increase of 8.4 million tonnes, hitting a new record high and remaining above 700 million tonnes for the second consecutive year," he said.

Agricultural modernization surged forward in 2025, supported by significant advancements in technology and infrastructure.

"In 2025, we supported the construction and upgrading of 75.68 million mu (about 5.05 million hectares) of high-standard farmland, bringing the total to over 1 billion mu (about 66.67 million hectares). The contribution rate of agricultural science and technology progress has exceeded 64 percent," Zhang noted.

The comprehensive mechanization rate of crop cultivation and harvesting reached 76.7 percent. Smart agriculture applications expanded across the entire production chain, with more than 300,000 agricultural drones in operation and annual service coverage surpassing 460 million mu (about 30.67 million hectares).

In addition, efforts to boost rural industries, infrastructure and governance also advanced steadily.

"The added value of the agricultural and sideline food processing industry above the designated size increased by 5.6 percent year on year, while new business formats like rural tourism and e-commerce continued to grow. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the per capita disposable income of rural residents reached 24,456 yuan, a real increase of 6 percent over the previous year," Zhang said.

CMG 2026 Spring Festival Gala promo debuts in Germany's Bundesliga

The promotional video of the China Media Group (CMG)'s 2026 Spring Festival Gala made its debut on Jan 18 at the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL), attracting widespread attention in Berlin, the capital of Germany. It was a highly anticipated match between Borussia Düsseldorf, a club having won the Bundesliga championship for many times, and Fulda-Maberzell, the runner-up of the 2026 German Cup final.

The promotional video was played on a loop during the intense match, creating festive atmosphere in the venue.

"The Spring Festival is an important and happy time. It is a special day for Chinese people all over the world. People like to get together to watch TV and enjoy this moment. I heard from my parents that there is a very famous program called the Spring Festival Gala, which attracts hundreds of millions of viewers every year. I will remind my friends to watch it and I'm also looking forward to seeing it this year," said Qiu Dang, a German-Chinese table tennis player.

"The Chinese Spring Festival Gala is a grand festival feast and is also very important in Germany and Europe. I'm really looking forward to the gala and hope to enter the Year of the Horse together with my Chinese friends," said Johannes Hodes, deputy manager of Fulda-Maberzell.

Andreas Preuss, manager of Borussia Düsseldorf, said that he has made many Chinese friends in both work and life. Sports, especially table tennis, can effectively bring people from different countries closer together and deepen the friendship between the Chinese and German people, according to him.

"Sports bring people together, especially table tennis. We call it table tennis because to enjoy its fun, both sides need to participate, one stands for China and the other Germany. I sincerely wish for world peace and especially extend my most heartfelt new year's greetings to the Chinese people. Happy Year of the Horse. May the friendship between Germany and China last forever," he said.

"To all the Chinese people, especially the table tennis fans, I wish you all the best for the new year. Happy Spring Festival. Hopefully the new year will be a good one for all of you," said Timo Boll, a German table tennis veteran.

"I wish all my Chinese friends a happy year of the Horse!" said Hodes.

Known as "Chunwan" in Chinese, the gala has been broadcast live annually since 1983 and is regarded as a major cultural symbol for the Chinese New Year celebrations in China. This year's gala will air on Feb 16, the eve of the Chinese New Year.

The gala has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the most-watched annual television program worldwide. Just over a year ago, the Spring Festival itself was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.