Supply-side structural reform in agriculture deepens in Beijing

To promote integrated urban-rural development, Beijing deepened supply-side structural reform in the agricultural sector to build a solid foundation for accelerating the modernization of agriculture, a senior official from the capital city's agricultural sector said on Wednesday.

Kang Sen, deputy secretary of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Rural Affairs, said at a news conference held by the Publicity Department of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, that the capital city will give full play to the capital's advantages in scientific and technological innovation to support agricultural development.

"We will push forward an all-round 'farmland chiefs system' to firmly curb non-agriculturalization of arable land and strictly guard the permanent basic farmland and observe the bottom line of the cultivated land area," Kang said.

According to Kang, who is also deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), the per capita disposable income of rural residents in the capital city increased from 20,569 yuan ($3,215) to 28,928 yuan, and 234 low-income villages were eliminated.

In addition, he said rural basic public services in Beijing were significantly improved, with the basic pension, welfare pension and minimum living standards of urban and rural residents increased by 70.2 percent, 85.7 percent, and 54.9 percent, respectively, compared with 2015.

Kang stressed that this year, Beijing will make efforts to advance the construction of a modern agricultural management system to cultivate 200 demonstration family farms, 20 family farm demonstration towns, and three family farm demonstration areas.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), the capital city will establish five national modern agricultural industrial parks, upgrade seven national agricultural science and technology parks and build about 100 agricultural science and technology demonstration bases, according to Kang.