President Xi calls for structural reform, agricultural modernization

BEIJING, March 8, 2016 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping joins a group deliberation of deputies from Hunan Province to the annual session of the National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 8, 2016. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

BEIJING, March 8 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for supply-side structural reform, agricultural modernization and grain security.

Xi joined a group of deputies to the National People's Congress from Hunan Province, listening to their opinions on innovation-driven development, international productivity cooperation, poverty alleviation, supply-side structural reform and environmental protection.

The president also extended his greetings to Chinese women on the occasion of the International Working Women's Day.

He called for innovative ways of working, pushing forward supply-side structural reform, improving the livelihood of the people, and advancing agricultural modernization, in a bid to give the people more sense of benefits.

"Advancing the supply-side structural reform is a tough battle," the president said, calling for practical efforts to win the battle, including improving basic public services, and fixing shortcomings in the people's livelihood.

Xi asked to strengthen agricultural benefits and competitiveness, improve agricultural production structure on the basis of market demand, and develop modern agriculture with the support of science and technology.

Ensuring grain security is a priority for the state, said the president, adding that grain security policies should be examined and improved, and production capacity should be viewed as the fundamental issue.