China's new quality agricultural productive forces to be fully developed: report

BEIJING - In the coming decade, China's agricultural sector will witness the full development of new quality productive forces, accompanied by an accelerated pace of agricultural transformation and upgrading, according to a report released on Saturday.

The China Agricultural Outlook Report (2024-2033), released at the 2024 China Agricultural Outlook Conference held at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, reviewed the market situation of China's major agricultural products in 2023, and provided an analysis of the production, consumption, trade and price trends in the country's agricultural sector over the next decade.

China's grain production in 2023 reached 695 million tons, an increase of 1.3 percent compared to the previous year. The country's annual grain production has remained stable at over 650 million tons for nine consecutive years, according to the report.

Significant strides have been achieved in the high-quality development of agriculture, with the nationwide creation of over 1 billion mu (about 66.67 million hectares) of high-standard farmland, promoting the construction of high-standard farmland, the report said.

China's grain yield per hectare will reach 5,933 kg in 2024, up 1.5 percent compared to the previous year, and grain production is expected to hit 704 million tons, increasing 1.3 percent from 2023, according to the report.

With new breakthroughs in biological breeding technology, widespread promotion of high-yield and efficient technology models and continuous improvement of farmland quality, it is expected that China's grain yield per unit will increase by 10.7 percent by 2033, reaching 6,438 kg per hectare, the report said.

China's annual grain production is expected to reach 766 million tons in 2033, with an average annual growth rate of 1.1 percent, according to the report.

As the incomes of Chinese residents steadily rise and nutrition and health concepts become more widespread, the structure of food consumption will continuously improve, leading to a shift towards healthier, greener, more diverse and personalized agricultural product consumption, the report said.

China's agricultural trade structure will also continue to optimize, with diversified import sources and a sustained growth trend in agricultural trade, the report added.