China's agriculture master plan focuses on nationwide cropland upgrade by 2035 to reinforce food security

An aerial drone photo taken on March 8, 2025, shows farmers covering potatoes with mulch film on a farmland of Zhongcun Town, Pingyi County, in east China's Shandong Province. (Photo/Xinhua)

China recently unveiled a plan to upgrade all suitable permanent farmland into high-standard cropland by 2035, in the latest push to reinforce the foundations of the nation's food security, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday.

The plan, jointly issued by the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, outlines action targets for two five-year phases.

High-standard farmland features fertile soil, drought and flood resilience, pollution-free conditions and high yields. Compared with ordinary cropland, it reduces water, fertilizer and pesticide use by more than 10 percent per muwhile increasing grain output by 10-20 percent.

The plan aims to develop 1.35 billion mu(90 million hectares) of high-standard farmland and upgrade 280 million muby 2030. And, by 2035, the goal is to convert all permanent farmland with suitable conditions into high-standard cropland, with a cumulative upgrade of 455 million mu.

It also includes concurrent targets for efficient irrigation expansion, aiming to add 80 million muof water-saving irrigation systems by 2030, with the total projected to reach 130 million muby 2035.

The notice emphasizes that the top priority is to boost production capacity for grain and other essential agricultural products. This will be achieved by upgrading arable land into modern, high-yield fields -- ensuring suitability for cultivation, providing resilience against droughts and floods, and achieving consistently stable output.

Amid increasingly tight resource and environmental constraints, high-standard farmland construction can significantly improve resource efficiency, and create conditions for the application of smart and digital farming technology, said Li Guoxiang, a research fellow at the Rural Development Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

It has been proven to be a "crucial measure to ensure national food security," Li told the Global Times on Sunday.

The Central Rural Work Conference in December highlighted the priority of work to "promote the development of high-standard farmland with high quality", which was reiterated in the No.1 Central Document for 2025.

This year's Government Work Report listed "making every effort to deliver in work relating to agriculture, rural areas, and rural residents" as one of the major tasks for the year, pledging to "advance the high-quality development of high-standard cropland, step up the construction of irrigation and water conservancy facilities and the building of modern irrigation areas, and promote the restoration of degraded arable land."

The new plan specifies that farmland construction in the vast black soil areas of Northeast China, the plains, the regions with the conditions for irrigation, and other suitable areas, without being limited to permanent farmland.

Also, the plan details financial oversight requirements, urging local governments to allocate funds promptly and disburse payments based on contract terms and project progress to enhance efficiency.

In 2024, China built and upgraded more than 80 million muof high-standard farmland while developing more than 10 million muof efficient water-saving irrigation, official data showed.

High-standard farmland is vital for boosting disaster resistance and per-unit yields, Li said. "In the long run, the well-equipped infrastructure paves the way for mechanization and smart agriculture, as many precision farming technologies require compatible field conditions," he noted.

Li expressed confidence in meeting these targets, citing China's proven expertise in farmland construction and management, reinforced by strong policy support, sufficient funding, and the country's advanced agricultural technology.