China to promote development of agricultural product processing

BEIJING -- The State Council, China's cabinet, has issued guidelines on agricultural product processing industry.

Accelerating the industry's development will help promote agricultural modernization, increase farmers' incomes, improve people's livelihoods and ensure steady economic growth, according to the guidelines.

China aims to raise the agricultural product processing efficiency ratio to 68 percent by 2020, and to 75 percent by 2025.

By 2020, revenue of the industry will rise by an annual average of over 6 percent.

The country pledges favorable taxation and financial policies for agricultural product processing companies to facilitate the sector's development.

The guidelines are believed to be part of the country's broader efforts to improve agricultural productivity and competitiveness.

China has plenty of ordinary produce, but very few high-quality, branded agricultural products, said Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu last week.

The country will continue with supply-side agricultural structural reform in 2017 to improve quality and efficiency in the sector, according to a central rural work conference held earlier this month.