Page:2016 Report on the Work of the Government.pdf/27

 processing of agricultural products to increase their value and extend the agricultural production chain. We will formulate a plan for a new round of initiatives to turn marginal farmland into forest or grassland, with the target for this year being one million hectares. There is much to be gained in this, and it must be carried out to full effect.

We will promote the development of suitably scaled-up agricultural operations in diversified forms and improve policy support for family farms, large and specialized agricultural family operations, farming cooperatives, and other emerging forms of agribusiness. We will encourage farmers, on a voluntary basis and in accordance with relevant laws, to transfer the land they contract to work on in return for compensation, enter into cooperation or association based on land as shares, or place their land under trusteeship. We will deepen the reform of the rural collective property rights system, state farms on reclaimed land, collective forest tenure, state forestry farms, farmland irrigation and water conservancy, and rural supply and marketing cooperatives.


 * The foundation of agriculture will be strengthened.

We will complete our work nationwide on designating permanent basic cropland and provide special protection for such cropland, promote the development of high-standard cropland, improve the subsoil of an additional ten million hectares of cropland, and increase the area of cropland covered by efficient water-saving irrigation by 1.33 million hectares. We will explore trials of crop rotation and fallow land. We will promote the innovation and application of agricultural science and technology. We will promote green, high-yield, and cost efficient food crop production and achieve zero growth in the use of chemical fertilizers and insecticides. In fiscal allocations, investment in agriculture will be ensured, a national agricultural credit guaranty system will be established, the system for agricultural insurance will be improved, and more investment in agricultural modernization will be encouraged.


 * We will improve public services in rural areas.

We will step up the development of rural infrastructure. An additional 200,000 kilometers of rural roads will be built or upgraded. In towns, townships, and incorporated villages, where conditions allow, efforts should be stepped up to build paved roads and provide access to bus services. We will act promptly to launch a new round of efforts to upgrade rural power grids, and our goal is to ensure a stable and reliable supply of power to all rural areas and all electric pumpsets on rural flatlands within the next two years. We will build on past progress to make further advances in providing access to safe drinking water. We will encourage the introduction of e-commerce into rural areas. We will endeavor to build an even more beautiful and livable countryside.