Report on the Agricultural Supply-side Structural Reform Is Released
On July 5, the CDRF released a research report, entitled "Changing Agriculture, Rural Areas and Rural People, Challenges and Policy Options of the Agricultural Supply-side Structural Reform". It took two years to complete this report. Relevant teams from the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Renmin University of China, and China Agricultural University participated in the research. Vice Chairman Lu Mai of the CDRF, Song Hongyuan, an agricultural expert, and Li Zhou attended the meeting. Yili Group supported the research. Liu Chunxi, Vice President of Yili Group, delivered a speech at the meeting.
Vice Chairman Lu Mai thought that the agricultural supply-side structural reform should be considered from the modernization of China as a whole. The agricultural supply-side structural reform is catalyzed by structural conflicts in all aspects at the current stage of modernization in China. It should serve the long-term objective of modernization.
Yu Jiantuo, Assistant Secretary General of the CDRF, introduced the main results of the report on behalf of the research team. The report revealed that since the founding of China, especially since the reform and opening up, China has continuously raised its agricultural production to ensure food safety and the supply of all agricultural products, and vigorously support the national economy, raised the income of farmers, and alleviate poverty. With their diligence and wisdom, the Chinese people have answered the question "who will feed China" raised by Lester Brown.
The report points out that China's economy and society as well as environments for development at home and abroad have gone through fundamental and critical changes in recent years. These changes include: The economic structure has been profoundly adjusted. The proportion of the tertiary industry in the economy has exceeded 50%. The urbanization rate is approaching 60%. The growth of urbanization will slow down. The level of economic development and living standards of the people keep increasing. The way of economic growth has been changed fundamentally from investment-driven to consumption-driven. The era of rapid growth has ended. Population aging is deepening and accelerating. Ecological and environmental constraints have become tighter. Reform enters a new stage and relies more on the modernization of the governance system and capacity. International political and economic structures have undergone dramatic adjustments. Multilateralism and the international order are facing more uncertainties.
These changes will reshape the role of agriculture in the national economy and social development. Agriculture still shoulders the heavy responsibility of protecting food safety. However, the connotation and focus of food safety are expected to change. Agriculture is coming down in the national economy but remains a significant sector in offering jobs. Agriculture directly restricts the vitality of rural society, due to its lack of attractiveness. Though its support for the increase in farmers' income falls, agriculture remains an important source of income of farmers. Despite the abundant total supply, agricultural products suffer from a structural imbalance in the quality and variety of higher consumption demands. Agricultural development requires resource elements. However, point- and plane-source pollution is prominent. Agricultural development is restricted by the bearing capacity of ecology. Agriculture will face fiercer international and domestic competition, but multiple factors constrain agricultural competitiveness.
In terms of the long-term modernization objective, agriculture is expected to assume the following functions in the future economy and society of China: First, it should ensure a high level of food safety. Second, it should satisfy the demand for agricultural product upgrading. Third, it should benefit the increase in farmers' income and narrows the gap in income between urban and rural areas. Fourth, it should inject new vitality to rural society. Fifth, it should improve rural ecology and push the overall construction of ecological civilization.
The report holds that the agricultural supply-side structural reform needs to address many short-term structural problems of products. However, such problems are derived from the long-term and comprehensive influence of resource elements, policies, and systems. Therefore, it is more important to meet the long-term structural challenge and lay a foundation for the realization of modernization by 2035.
The report argues that the core of the agricultural supply-side structural reform lies in the market-oriented reform of resource elements. Particularly, key breakthroughs include the land system, changes in the way of agricultural operations, property income of farmers and collective property income, and deep integration of primary, secondary, and tertiary industries. The integration of quality production factors in urban and rural areas decides the effectiveness of the reform. The reform of "farmland", "rural collective construction land", and "homestead" in rural areas should be comprehensively promoted and connected. Furthermore, the report requires to further promote new people-oriented urbanization, raise the investment of human capital in rural areas, cultivate more people with agricultural skills, further perfect the financial system and mechanism in rural areas, and turn agriculture green and clean by shifting the agricultural production method. Additionally, the report requires to strengthen agriculture-related market infrastructure, enhance the price formation mechanism for agricultural products, optimize the financial support policy system for agriculture, establish and improve the socialized service system for agriculture in the new era, and consolidate the supervision and management of food security.
