China will draw up policies aimed at speeding up the transfer of rural land as part of efforts to improve efficiency and promote large-scale commercial farming, the government said on Thursday, Reuters reported.
The central government said in its “number one document” for 2013, focusing on modernising agriculture, it would grant more subsidies to large-scale landholders, family farms and rural cooperatives as it tries to provide more incentives to bring economies of scale to the fragmented countryside.
The “number one document” is a key indicator of policy priorities and has focused on rural matters every year since 2003.
“The development of China’s rural sector has entered a new stage along with the deepening industrialisation and urbanisation,” the government said in the document, which was published by the official Xinhua news agency.
It listed grain security and farm product supply as top priorities, with China seeking to boost production as it urbanises and industrialises. The relocation to the cities of more than 200 million migrant workers has slashed the rural workforce and boosted food demand, leading to a growing dependence on imports.
The government will continue to support domestic farm prices by increasing state stockpiles, it said. The policy has sent domestic prices much higher than international levels, requiring even tighter regulations of imports.
The government will continue to purchase and stockpile corn, soybeans, rapeseed, cotton and sugar while strengthening the import tariff and quotas system, it said, without giving details.
China would also draw up measures to stimulate agriculture commodity futures trading and introduce new futures products. The government provided no details in the document.
The government will strengthen monitoring on imports of “sensitive” farm products and crack down on smuggling, it said, without elaborating.