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E-mail China.org.cn, July 2, 2024
Chen Wenjun:
The last two questions, please.
CNR:
During this year's Spring Festival, new agricultural specialties such as hairy crab, salmon and dragon fruit produced in Shanxi demonstrated the new achievements of Shanxi's modern agriculture. Could you please introduce some of Shanxi's considerations and practices in developing quality and distinctive agriculture? Thank you.
Jin Xiangjun:
Thank you for your question. At first glance, it seems unlikely that the hairy crab, salmon and dragon fruit you just mentioned would be produced in Shanxi. Now, not only are they produced here, but they have also exploded in popularity. I would like to thank all friends from the media for their significant promotion.
Shanxi's agricultural products boast distinctive characteristics. As Mr. Tang just introduced, everyone is familiar with Shanxi's traditional agricultural products, such as sundry grains, wheat food, mature vinegar , and fruit. In particular, many people are familiar with the old song lyric about Shanxi, which goes: "People say that Shanxi has beautiful scenery, fertile land, beautiful water and fragrant grains." Shanxi is indeed a place with high-quality and distinctive agricultural products. In the new era, we believe that developing quality and distinctive agriculture, and especially doing a good job in developing local specialties, as instructed by General Secretary Xi Jinping, are crucial to rural revitalization, and especially industrial revitalization.
We have adopted an all-encompassing approach to food and are focused on ensuring food supply. Shanxi is a province with balanced grain production and sales. On the basis of three consecutive increases in sown area, total output and unit yield, Shanxi continues to consolidate its foundation of cultivated land, especially creating quality brands of organic dry farming. Every year, we build and renovate 176,666 hectares of high-standard cropland to increase grain crop yield per unit and strive to achieve a total production capacity of over 15 billion kilograms . Last year we were close to 14.85 billion kilograms. We have coordinated the supply of agricultural products such as fruit, vegetables, fish, meat, eggs and milk, and built a diversified food supply system. We would especially like to see more of Shanxi's premium agricultural products such as Pingyao beef, Xixian pears, Linyi hairy crabs, Yongji white shrimps as well as salmon and dragon fruit, as you just mentioned, go on the dining tables of people elsewhere and meet their needs for high-quality lives. We hope that friends from the media can continue promoting these efforts to a wider audience.
Moreover, we are developing and modernizing agriculture with an all-encompassing approach and strive to improve its quality and effectiveness. Shanxi has comparative advantages in sundry grains, dried and fresh fruit, and traditional Chinese medicinal materials. Besides, Shanxi has both agricultural and animal husbandry areas, and the quality of grass-fed livestock and poultry is good. Based on advantages in these resources, we give full play to the Jinzhong National Agricultural Hi-tech Industries Demonstration Zone , and rely on platforms for promoting fruit in southern Shanxi, grain in Xinzhou city and meat in northern Shanxi to build agricultural strength in towns, high-quality and distinctive agricultural industries in counties, and key industrial chains in the province. We have developed new business models such as rural tourism and rural e-commerce, and are promoting the high-quality development of agriculture through the entire industrial chain.
Increasing farmers' incomes is the starting point and ultimate goal of the work related to agriculture, rural areas and rural residents. Shanxi continues to consolidate and expand its achievements in poverty alleviation, especially by broadening channels for farmers to increase their incomes. Last year, the per capita disposable income of farmers and the per capita net income of people lifted out of poverty in our province increased by 8.3% and 15.6%, respectively. At the same time, we have learned and applied the experience of the Green Rural Revival Program to coordinate the promotion of new urbanization and rural revitalization across the board, provide differentiated guidance, and implement the construction of high-quality demonstration villages and upgrade villages on a rolling basis, taking practical steps that are tangible and reach the people.
For example, we are actively developing e-commerce platforms, improving rural logistics systems, and striving to connect premium and distinctive agricultural products with large markets. The Shanxi Provincial Government Work Report has deployed efforts to ensure more effective full coverage of rural logistics services for two consecutive years, and the provincial government has subsidized the development of rural logistics. This has effectively mobilized more business entities to focus on the development of quality and distinctive agriculture, allowing Shanxi's distinctive, high-quality products to reach a broader market and eventually reach people's dining tables.
Generally speaking, we aim to do our best to enable rural residents to enjoy modern lives where they are. Thank you.
