Yesterday, the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and State Council jointly published a set of general aims to strengthen overall agricultural production capacity this year.

The intention is to improve infrastructure and accelerate progress in science and technology, and will require coordinated development between urban and rural areas. It will also strive for stable food growth and sustained increases in farmers' incomes.

The nine strands listed in the document were:

To further motivate farmers by stabilizing and enhancing policies to prop up agricultural development;

To resolutely implement rigid practices to protect farmland and raise the quality of its use;

To strengthen water conservation and ecological construction whilst increasing capacity;

To accelerate innovation in science and technology;

To speed up construction of rural infrastructure and establish a better environment for development;

To continue to adapt economic structures and increase competitive power;

To reform and improve rural investment and financing systems;

To improve the competency of rural laborers and promote the all-round development of farmers and rural society; and

To reinforce and improve the leadership of the CPC over rural work.

(China Daily January 31, 2005)