The Number One Document also proposed a new pricing plan for China's grain production. Experts say the market-oriented plan will improve the pricing system for agricultural products while protecting farmers'interests.
Feeding more than one billion people is no easy task as China's population keeps rising while its arable land areas remain fixed. Now the government is offering a new way to keep farmers engaged.
"Under the new pricing system, the government would establish prices for different products while leaving room for farmers to make a profit," said Li Guoxiang, researcher of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The document states that the government would gradually modify China's grain prices and allow farmers to get subsidies based on market price differences. The government now sets minimum prices for farm products and assigns certain buyers to purchase after harvest. The measure helps farmers but the rigid system has also created problems. That's by distorting market prices and making buyers, mostly state-owned grain companies, overly reliant on public funding.
"The government has to offer subsidies to carry on the current pricing plan and the weakness is that those buyers usually rely on the fiscal budget to operate," said Li Guoxiang, researcher of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Experts have argued that the current plan needs changes because the government has raised some crop prices to levels higher than those of the international market. Those increases have made it difficult for domestic buyers to improve sales and also are driving up China's import volumes. Wary leaders took notice of the trend and prioritized food security when planning China’s economic goals during a key meeting last month.
Source: CCTV
