Xinhua News Agency:

Shandong boasts a diverse range of agricultural products with distinctive characteristics, including Zhangqiu scallions, Laiyang pears, and Weixian radishes, which have become well-known Shandong brands. What are the next steps for Shandong to leverage its advantage as a major agricultural province and drive progress in rural revitalization?

Sun Aijun:

Thank you for your question. As you mentioned, Shandong is a major agricultural province. With 6% of China's arable land and 1% of its freshwater resources, Shandong contributes 8% of the nation's grain, 10% of its meat, eggs and milk, 11% of its vegetables, 12% of its fruits, and 13% of its aquatic products. In 2018, General Secretary Xi Jinping assigned Shandong the crucial task of developing a model for rural revitalization. Over the past six years, with the general secretary's directive in mind, the whole province has made significant progress in accelerating rural revitalization and establishing itself as a major agricultural province.

In terms of industrial development, its total output value of the farming, forestry, livestock, and fishing industries reached 1.25 trillion yuan last year, ranking first in the nation. Shandong is the only province with over 10,000 agricultural product processing enterprises above designated size. Moreover, the province has surpassed 110 billion jin in total grain output for three consecutive years. Shandong has successfully cultivated five out of the top 10 wheat varieties promoted nationwide, playing a significant role in ensuring China's overall food supply.

In terms of increasing farmers' income, rural residents' income reached 23,776 yuan, 1.6 times that of 2017.

In pursuing rural development initiatives, we have achieved the harmless treatment of almost all domestic waste in rural areas. Moreover, optical fiber broadband now covers all villages in the province. These efforts have led to significant improvements in the rural environment and have made the daily lives of farmers much more convenient.

From this new starting point, we will deliver a solid performance in rural revitalization and further improve the quality and effectiveness of the Shandong model.

Our top priority is to safeguard food security. We have built more than 76 million mu of high-standard farmland. This year and next, we will build another 1.47 million mu and upgrade 6.13 million mu. Our goal is to create more high-stable-yield farmland capable of irrigation during droughts and drainage during floods. Efforts will be made to ensure that grain output remains stable at over 110 billion jin, fulfilling our commitment to ensuring food security.

The key is to accelerate the development of the entire agricultural industrial chain. We will focus on cultivating 100-billion-yuan industry clusters such as Shouguang vegetables, Yantai apples, and Yanhuang beef cattle, with the aim of bringing more high-quality agricultural products to people's kitchen tables across the nation. In addition, we will intensify efforts to promote the integrated development of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries. For example, Zhongyu Group in Binzhou city is a company that focuses on the deep processing of wheat. The company can produce over 600 kinds of products from 1 ton of wheat, generating a value 2.5 times higher than typical processing enterprises. Sanjianxi village in Zhangqiu district of Jinan city has increased its collective revenue by nearly 10 million yuan over the past five years by developing characteristic industries, such as ancient village clusters rich in folk culture. Numerous examples exist in sectors like deep processing of agricultural products, pre-made dishes, and rural tourism, all of which boast huge market potential. Therefore, we will make every effort to expand and strengthen these sectors.

The key to rural revitalization lies in improving the quality of life of farmers. Following an approach of contiguous development, we will strategically establish a batch of exemplary demonstration areas for rural revitalization in Shandong every year. Each demonstration area will receive a maximum subsidy of 50 million yuan, which will primarily be used for environmental governance and infrastructure construction, and aimed at enhancing the livability and suitability for both residence and employment in rural areas. Shandong has over 2.7 million practical professionals in rural areas, and we will leverage the driving force of this group to develop more industries that can bring prosperity to the countryside. By further expanding channels for increasing farmers' incomes, we aim to ensure that the over 40 million rural residents can share benefits created in pursuing rural revitalization.

That's all from me. Thank you.