Xi says creating harvest festival has profound and far-reaching influence

CHINESE President Xi Jinping has congratulated Chinese farmers on the first harvest festival.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, sent greetings and good wishes to the country’s farmers on behalf of the CPC Central Committee for the festival, which was yesterday, the Autumnal Equinox of this year.

The CPC Central Committee’s decision to create the Chinese farmers’ harvest festival further demonstrates that work related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers is a top priority and holds a fundamental position, Xi noted, calling the creation of the festival “an event with profound and far-reaching influence.”

“China is a large agricultural country. Priority on agriculture is the foundation and essential for the rule of the country and the people’s security,” Xi said.

Chinese farmers have made great contributions throughout the country’s history, he said, noting that historic achievements and reforms have been made in agricultural and rural development over the past four decades of rural reform.

Xi called on the country’s farmers and all sectors of society to vigorously participate in the festive events and foster a good environment for the development of agriculture and rural areas as well as the wellbeing of farmers.

He urged moves to stimulate farmers’ enthusiasm, initiative and creativity so as to fully implement the rural vitalization strategy, win the tough battle against poverty, and accelerate the modernization of agriculture and rural areas.

Rural vitalization is a major strategy put forward at the 19th CPC National Congress, and a historic task of overall importance which concerns fully building a modern socialist country, the president also said on Friday while presiding over a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on this issue.

He called for deepening the understanding of the major strategy and always making resolving issues concerning agriculture, the countryside and farmers the top priority of the Party’s work.

The country’s overall modernization will be impossible without modernization of agriculture and rural areas, Xi said.

Forty years ago, it was rural reforms that raised the curtain on China’s reform and openingup. Today, China should break new ground for urban-rural integration and modernization by vitalizing rural areas, he said.

It is the overall goal of rural vitalization strategy to modernize agriculture and rural areas and it is the strategy’s overall principle to stick to prioritizing agriculture and rural areas, Xi said.

He called for planning and advancing the modernization of agriculture and rural areas side by side so as to turn China from a large agricultural country to a strong one.

Effective measures should be taken in terms of investment, factors allocation, public service and cadres’ assignment to shore up points of weakness in agricultural and rural development, and narrow urban-rural gap, Xi said.

He called for more efforts to prioritize the development of farmer cooperatives and family farms so as to boost the efficiency of the agricultural sector.

The president also called for boosting investment in agricultural and rural infrastructure, speeding up the connectivity of urban-rural infrastructure, and promoting two-way free flow of talents, land and funding between urban and rural areas.

Winning the battle against poverty is a priority task of the rural vitalization strategy, he said.

Calling talents the foundation of rural vitalization, Xi said more efforts should be made to motivate the vitality of talented people in rural areas, and encourage more talented people in cities to make innovations and start new companies in the countryside.

In implementing the rural vitalization strategy, the focus should be on quality instead of scale and speed, Xi said.

He stressed the importance of letting the market play the decisive role and ensuring the government play its role better in promoting a new round of rural reforms.

Xi also highlighted the importance of creating a stronger sense of fulfillment, happiness and security for rural people in carrying out the rural vitalization strategy.