High-quality farmland, seed breeding, agricultural machinery, disaster prevention – and the integration of construction, inspection and management

As reported by CCTV+, China will continue to increase food production through better farmland management and technological innovation, while accelerating over the next five years efforts to create a beautiful and harmonious countryside where people can live and work, said Tu Shengwei, a researcher at the Academy of Macroeconomic Research of the National Development and Reform Commission.

Tu’s statement followed the State Council’s adoption of a plan to accelerate agricultural and rural modernisation during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030). The plan aims to speed up agricultural and rural modernisation to support China’s overall modernisation, setting key tasks and policy measures. According to the plan, China will increase its comprehensive grain production capacity to about 725 million tons by 2030.

Tu stressed that food security is a prerequisite for promoting modernisation. “First, we must implement the requirement to increase food production through more effective farmland management. This means promoting the construction of high-quality farmland. To ensure quality construction, management and use, we need an integrated approach covering construction, inspection and management. We must continuously raise the level of self-reliance in agricultural science and technology, expand innovation and application of agricultural technologies in areas such as seed breeding, agricultural machinery and disaster prevention and mitigation, so as to improve both grain yield and quality,” Tu said.

The plan also calls for accelerated efforts to build a beautiful and harmonious countryside for people to live and work, urging new breakthroughs in integrated urban-rural development. “Previous plans focused more on improving rural living standards by upgrading infrastructure, public services and living conditions. The new plan proposes to create a beautiful and harmonious countryside where people can live and work, broadening the traditional understanding of a harmonious countryside to include suitability for work. Rural areas need not only a pleasant environment, reliable infrastructure and quality services, but also industry,” Tu said.

China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) emphasises comprehensive agricultural and rural modernisation, including food security, technological innovation and creating conditions for living and working.

China has set an ambitious goal: 725 million tons of grain by 2030. But the numbers are not the point. The point is how it will get there. Not extensively, by opening new fields, but intensively: smart land management, high-tech seeds, modern machinery, disaster protection. And all of this – without harming the countryside. On the contrary, the new policy wants to make rural areas not only the country’s breadbasket but also a place where people want to live and work. Not just beautiful landscapes and renovated roads, but also jobs. The question is not whether China will feed itself. It will. The question is how quickly it will turn the countryside from a donor of resources into a full-fledged development territory. The new plan is the answer. And it says: within this five-year plan.