Xi visits CPPCC members in sectors of agriculture, welfare and social security(2)

Special: 2022 Two Sessions

Xi pointed out that farmland is the lifeline of grain production and the foundation of the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. Farmland is for farming and can only be used to grow crops, especially grain crops. The strictest possible system for the protection of farmland must be implemented, the regulation over the use of farmland should be strengthened, cultivated land used for other purposes should be offset in a regulated way, how transferred land rights are used should be placed under strict supervision, idle land should be put into better use, and any attempt to use the farmland for purposes other than agriculture and specifically grain production should be resolutely stopped. All of the farmland must remain fertile. Agricultural belts for national food security will be established, farmland irrigation and water conservancy will be further improved, projects conserving chernozem soil will be implemented, and saline-alkali land will be transformed on a categorized basis, so as to develop about 66.7 million hectares of high-quality farmland. Measures to protect farmland must have teeth. Local party committees and governments at all levels should be held strictly accountable for farmland protection. The central authorities will make all the local authorities pledge themselves to protect farmland, assessment on officials must be strict, and anyone who ever break farmland protection rules will be held accountable throughout their lifetime, so as to ensure that China's total of 120 million hectares of farmland is a reliable figure.

Xi stressed that science and technology are key to food security. The security of germplasm resources is related to national security, meaning we must be determined to develop our country's seed industry so as to increase self-reliance in seed technology and ensure that the country's seed resources are self-supporting and under better control. We should take advantage of our institutional strengths, allocate advantageous resources in a down-to-earth manner, promote the establishment of a major innovation platform at national level for the seed industry, accelerate basic and frontline research, strengthen the collection, protection, development and use of seed resources, and speed up the industrialization of bio-breeding. The reform of the agricultural scientific mechanism should be furthered, the principal role of enterprises in innovation should be strengthened, and the systems for identifying seed varieties and protecting intellectual property rights should be upgraded to promote the high-quality development of our country's seed industry based on innovation chains.

Xi pointed out, we should adopt a "Greater Food" approach, and, with the aim of better satisfying the people's needs for a better life, grasp the changes in people's food structure. While ensuring grain supply, we must also guarantee an effective supply of various foods including meat, vegetables, fruits and aquatic products. None of them should be lacking.

While protecting the ecology and environment, we should shift our focus from farmland only to the whole country's land resources to develop, in line with their specific conditions, grain production, agribusiness, animal husbandry, fishing or forestry. As a result, we could put in place the production structure and regional layout for modern agriculture that are commensurate with market demands and the bearing capacities of resources and the environment. We can harvest food from forests, from rivers, lakes and seas, and from protected agriculture. Apart from traditional crops and livestock and poultry resources, we should exploit biological resources. By developing biological science and technology and bio-industries, we can obtain calories and protein from plants, animals and microorganisms.

We should proactively advance the supply-side structural reform in agriculture, employ multiple means to develop food resources in all respects and produce a rich variety of food items so that we can achieve food supply-and-demand balance and better meet the increasingly diverse food consumption needs of the people.

Xi stressed that in advancing rural revitalization we should not just focus on economic development. We must also make efforts to build stronger primary-level Party organizations in rural areas, and attach high importance to raising farmers' intellectual and moral standards. We must pay special attention to promoting the rule of law in rural areas, improve rural governance, and enhance self-governance by villagers. We should give full play to village rules, code of conduct for villagers and family values to foster civility and pass on fine family traditions among rural people. We should improve the regularized mechanism for combating organized crime and rooting out local gangs in rural areas, and continuously crack down on organized and clan criminals. We should punish, in accordance with law, pornography, gambling, and drug-related crimes and illegal and criminal offenses against women and children in rural areas .

Xi noted that the largest social safety net of the world has been set up in China. It is important to make continued efforts to promote high-quality development of social security, maintain overall institutional integrity and standards, and develop a multi-tiered, multi-pillar old-age insurance system to put more people under our social safety net. We should refine the social security system for people in flexible employment, and expand the coverage of unemployment insurance, workers' compensation and maternity insurance, to ensure more equitable institutional arrangements, a full coverage, and a solid bedrock of the people's wellbeing. We should also improve the supervision system for social security funds, and crack down hard on all types of fraud, embezzlement, misappropriation and other illegal activities related to social insurance funds. Every cent of our people's retirement money and lifeline fund must be well-protected.

When it comes to the wellbeing of the public, there is no such thing as a trivial matter, Xi stressed. We must give extra attention and care to the people in difficulty, to help them resolve problems. We should further reform the social assistance system, and work for a comprehensive, effective, multi-tiered and multi-category social assistance framework centered on basic living assistance, special assistance and emergency assistance. The framework is also supplemented by non-government resources. Targeted measures will be adopted to meet specific features and requirements of people with extreme difficulties, all assistance payments will be made on time and in full, and temporary assistance will be strengthened, to ensure that the basic needs of all those in need are satisfied.

We should shore up weak links in social welfare in rural areas, and give particular attention and care to disadvantaged groups such as elderly people and children, especially elderly people, children, and women left behind in rural areas. We should also provide greater assistance and support to people hit hard by epidemic or natural disasters, ensure rehabilitation, education, and employment for people with disabilities, guarantee the safety and basic living needs of vagrants and beggars, ensure support and care for people with mental illness, and take resolute steps to stop mistreatment of women, children, elderly people and people with disabilities.

Ding Xuexiang, Zhang Qingli, Li Bin, Wang Yongqing and Gu Shengzu also participated in the meeting.