China sets targets for supply-side structural reform in agriculture

BEIJING — China's State Council Friday released a guideline on accelerating supply-side structural reform in agriculture, specifying major tasks and targets for the sector's development in the coming years.

By 2020, China plans to foster a modern system for the grain industry and raise the ratio of high-quality grain by around 10 percentage points, according to the guideline.

China is also eyeing an annual average expansion of around 7 percent in the added value of the industry, with the increase of the grain processing rate to 88 percent. By 2020, the number of grain companies with yearly business revenue of more than 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) should exceed 50, the guideline said.

Major tasks for the development of the industry include invigorating leading enterprises, innovating new growth models and speeding up restructuring and upgrading to boost the supply of green and high-quality products.

The State Council stressed that more fiscal, tax and financing support should be extended to the industry, and favorable policies in land and power use should be put in place to facilitate industry development.

It asked local authorities to formulate detailed plans suitable to their regions for better industrial development.

After years of bumper harvests, China no longer struggles with food shortages, but structural problems remain: some agricultural products are over-supplied and some still rely heavily on imports, while homegrown produce struggles to compete with foreign rivals.

China's central rural work conference has stressed the need for better quality and efficiency in agriculture, with a focus on improving farmers' incomes and produce quality in 2017.

Earlier official data showed China's grain output dipped in 2016 as its planting area shrank and per unit yield edged down. National grain output stood at about 616 million metric tons last year, down 0.8 percent, compared with a year earlier.