BEIJING, Feb. 3 -- China unveiled its "No. 1 central document" for 2026 on Tuesday, outlining plans to advance agricultural and rural modernization and to promote all-around rural revitalization.
As the first policy statement released by China's central authorities each year, the document is seen as an indicator of policy priorities.
The document called for efforts to shore up weak links in agriculture and rural areas, and secure faster progress in building up China's strength in agriculture over the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030).
The country must give top priority to the issues related to agriculture, rural areas, and rural residents, promote integrated urban-rural development, and ensure that policies aimed at strengthening agriculture, benefiting farmers, and enriching rural areas deliver greater outcomes, according to the document.
It is imperative to safeguard national food security, continue to consolidate and expand the achievements in poverty alleviation, strive to build agriculture into a modern pillar sector, basically ensure modern living conditions in rural areas, and enable farmers to enjoy more prosperous and better lives, the document said.
The document comprises six parts covering six key areas: the enhancement of the overall production capacity, quality and performance of agriculture; the implementation of regular and targeted assistance measures; the promotion of stable income growth for farmers; the building of a beautiful and harmonious countryside that is desirable to live and work in based on local conditions; the strengthening of institutional innovation; and the reinforcement of the Party's overall leadership over work related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers.
The country will work to ensure the stable production of grain and edible oil, improve the quality and efficiency of the "vegetable basket" industry, and strengthen the protection and quality improvement of arable land. According to the document, efforts will also be made to enhance the efficacy of agricultural sci-tech innovation, to strengthen capacity-building for the prevention and mitigation of agricultural disasters, and to promote better coordination between the trade and production of agricultural products.
To consolidate and expand poverty alleviation achievements, the document urged improving regular supportive policies, for more precise and timely support, for the increased efficacy of industrial and employment assistance, and for the adoption of tiered and differentiated measures for underdeveloped areas.
China will promote steady income growth for farmers by safeguarding and incentivizing their engagement in grain production, cultivating county-level industries that benefit rural residents, stabilizing employment for rural migrant workers, and implementing multiple measures to expand rural consumption.
To advance the building of a beautiful and harmonious countryside that is desirable to live and work in based on local conditions, the document urged efforts to coordinate and improve the rural spatial layout, enhance infrastructure construction and maintenance, coordinate the provision of basic public services at the county level, promote holistic ecological conservation and restoration, deepen the campaign to foster civilized rural customs, and build safe and law-based villages.
To strengthen institutional innovation, the document called for the accelerated improvement of a modern agricultural management system, the orderly revitalization and leveraging of rural resources, the innovation of investment and financing mechanisms for rural revitalization, and the promotion of the two-way flow of urban and rural factors.
In terms of reinforcing the Party's overall leadership over work related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers, the document urged efforts to strengthen the implementation of the accountability system for rural revitalization, as well as efforts to enhance primary-level Party organizations in rural communities, and to improve the methods and approaches for rural work.
