Full text: Report on China's economic, social development plan (4)

3. The position of agriculture as the foundation of the economy was further consolidated.

We increased policy support to strengthen agriculture, benefit farmers, and enrich rural areas. Total central government expenditures on agriculture, rural areas, and farmers increased by 18%; the proportion of investment funds from the central government budget used in this area were raised to 50.5%; and supply of credit for this purpose rose by 20.7%. We implemented the strictest possible system for protecting arable land, and kept the total area of arable land above 121.3 million hectares. We fully implemented the plan to increase China's grain production capacity by 50 million tons, and projects to develop the community-level service system for spreading agricultural technology were carried out in nearly all towns and townships. We accelerated the development of projects to harness major rivers and lakes and protect major water sources in an all-around way, and strengthened efforts to build and transform large and medium-sized irrigated areas, upgrade and retrofit large irrigation and drainage pumping stations, develop small water conservancy projects, and harness small and medium-sized rivers. We upgraded more sea fishing boats and built more large-scale standardized hog and dairy cow farms. We raised the price floors for wheat and rice, offered higher prices for corn, soybeans, and rapeseed purchased and stockpiled on a temporary basis, and increased temporary purchases and stockpiling of cotton and sugar. Total grain output increased for the ninth consecutive year and amounted to 589.6 billion kilograms, up 3.2%, and output of cash crops rose steadily. Working and living conditions in rural areas improved. We provided safe drinking water to 81% of the rural population, installed or upgraded an additional 317,600 kilometers of electric power lines in the countryside, laid or upgraded 194,000 kilometers of rural roads, made methane available to another 1.8 million rural households, and renovated dilapidated houses for 5.6 million rural households. We supported the construction of grain depots with a total capacity of 4.22 million tons, as well as the construction of 105 wholesale markets for agricultural products and cold-chain logistics facilities with a handling capacity of 8 million tons. We carried out the project on rural goods distribution to get retailers to open stores in more townships and villages, and got standardized rural stores to set up in 75% of the country's villages.