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 The "number one document", issued every January and released by
state news agency Xinhua on Sunday, showed China will also protect
farmland and lend more to farmers to narrow a wealth gap between
rural and urban areas.
Attempts to clean up land that has been damaged by heavy metal
mining and processing will be widened this year, and "permanent
farmland" that is off-limit to industrial and urban development will
be created, the document said.
Modern farms will be set up, and regulation of the quality of food
and other farm products will be enhanced, it said.
On land reforms, aimed at allowing farmers to trade their land to
alleviate poverty and create bigger and more efficient farms, the
document said the focus is on expanding an experiment that registers
land usage rights to cover entire provinces.
Chinese farmers typically hold long-term land use contracts
allocated by the government, which allow them to farm the land but
not sell it.
China has been struggling to squeeze as much food out of its
dwindling, contaminated land as possible as demand increases from
ever-expanding urban regions.
MORE LOANS TO FARMERS
About a third of China's population lives in rural areas, according
to a Reuters estimate. Many young people have migrated to cities,
reducing productivity on farms and raising concerns about the
country's future food output.
More infrastructure will be built in rural areas, including laying
water pipes, upgrading existing power grids, or constructing
networks for alternative energy such as hydro and solar power.
Private investment in farms will be encouraged, and authorities will
experiment with ways to provide cheaper financing options to more
farmers, the document said.
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China Development Bank, which makes large infrastructure investment
at home and abroad and lends at the behest of China's government to
support its policies, will have to increase mid- and long-term
infrastructure loans to rural areas, it said.
The Postal Savings Bank of China, which serves low-income
entrepreneurs, will be encouraged to expand in villages, the
document showed.
Agricultural businesses that meet undisclosed criteria will also be
encouraged to sell bonds, and the leasing of big farm equipment will
be tested.
Direct subsidies for farmers, currently being trialled by cotton and
soybean growers, will continue, the document said. Officials have
said that authorities need more time to assess the efficacy of the
subsidy before rolling it out to other crops.
(Reporting by Koh Gui Qing, David Stanway and Dominique Patton;
Editing by Jason Neely and Stephen Powell)
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