China outlines plans for agricultural modernization, rural revitalization

China's 2026 "No. 1 central document" was released on Tuesday, outlining plans to advance agricultural and rural modernization and to promote all-around rural revitalization in the new year.

As the first policy statement released by China's central authorities each year, the document is seen as an indicator of policy priorities on agricultural and rural work.

The document calls for efforts to shore up weak links in agriculture and rural work, and secure faster progress in building up China's strength in agriculture over the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030).

The country must give top priority to the issues related to agriculture, rural areas, and rural residents, promote integrated urban-rural development, and ensure that policies aimed at strengthening agriculture, benefiting farmers, and enriching rural areas deliver greater outcomes, according to the document.

It is imperative to safeguard national food security, continue to consolidate and expand the achievements in poverty alleviation, strive to build agriculture into a modern pillar sector, basically ensure modern living conditions in rural areas, and enable farmers to enjoy more prosperous and better lives, the document points out.

The U.S. dollar increased in late trading on Thursday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, went up 0.38 percent to 100.024 at 1900 GMT.

In late New York trading, the euro lost to 1.1544 dollars from 1.1607 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound was down to 1.3227 dollars from 1.3324 dollars in the previous session.

The U.S. dollar bought 159.34 Japanese yen, higher than 158.82 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar was up to 0.7984 Swiss francs from 0.7931 Swiss francs, and it rose to 1.3921 Canadian dollars from 1.3895 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar added to 9.4234 Swedish kronor from 9.3935 Swedish kronor.