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Global Times: Xi congratulates China Agricultural University on founding anniversary, calls for cultivation of more professionals with expertise and passion for agriculture

Xi Jinping urges China Agricultural University to drive innovation and talent for national agricultural strength.

Beijing, China, Oct. 19, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has extended congratulations to China Agricultural University (CAU) faculty, students and alumni on the university's 120th founding anniversary, calling on it to cultivate more professionals with expertise and passion for agriculture, Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday.

In a reply letter to its faculty and students, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, urged the CAU to make new contributions to building up China's strength in agriculture and advancing Chinese modernization.

Xi urged the university to deepen educational reforms and boost agricultural sci-tech innovation and application of research outcomes, according to Xinhua.

CAU faculty and students recently wrote to Xi, expressing their resolve to develop their university into a world-class university and to strive for building a strong China and national rejuvenation.

Holding 'rice bowl' firmly

President Xi's letter not only inspires and motivates Chinese agricultural talent but also offers vital guidance for cultivating skilled professionals and fostering innovation in agricultural technology, Li Guoxiang, a research fellow at the Rural Development Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Ensuring grain security is the primary task in building a strong agricultural country and advancing agricultural and rural modernization, said Li. He added that the realization of grain security relies on the application of scientific and technological innovation in agricultural production to develop new quality productive forces, enabling a significant leap in agricultural output and substantially reducing the impact of adverse natural weather conditions.

At a press conference held in Beijing on Tuesday, Liu Huanxin, head of China's National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration (NFSRA), provided a set of data bespeaking the nation's sufficient food supplies and stable food market operations during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025).

According to the data, China's annual grain output has steadily remained above 650 million tonnes over the past five years. In 2024, its grain output exceeded 700 million tonnes for the first time and per capita grain possession reached 500 kilograms, higher than the internationally recognized food security line of 400 kilograms per capita.

While speaking about these achievements, Liu said China has achieved basic self-sufficiency in grains and absolute security in staple food. And these achievements have been underpinned by China's rigid policy of ensuring the total area of its farmland does not fall below the red line of 1.8 billion mu (120 million hectares), its efforts to build high-standard farmlands, and the adoption of advanced agricultural technologies.

As one of the world's most populous countries, China places holding its "rice bowl" firmly as a top priority in state governance, Zheng Fengtian, a professor at Renmin University of China's School of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, told the Global Times on Thursday.

According to Zheng, in the future, a diversified food supply will become critical, extending the "rice bowl" beyond the scope of grain to other edible produce.

In September 2024, the General Office of the State Council has issued guidelines on speeding up the establishment of a diversified food supply system to guarantee grain security and build up its strength in agriculture. It stressed that the country will adopt an all-encompassing approach to food, implementing measures to effectively promote the development of new food varieties, new fields and new technologies.

Efforts will be made to expand food resources through multiple channels, including forest food resources, herbivorous livestock products, aquatic products and the edible mushroom industry, according to the guideline.

In April, China unveiled a plan to accelerate building up its strength in agriculture for the period from 2024 to 2035. According to the plan, China aims to fully establish its agricultural strength by the mid-century. The country seeks to ensure a stable and reliable supply, achieve self-reliance in scientific and technological innovation, build robust infrastructure, and develop efficient, well-integrated rural industrial chains.

Amid an increasingly complex international landscape, building a strong agricultural nation requires strengthening the resilience of our industrial chains, diversifying import sources, and minimizing risks to the greatest extent possible, Li said.

"China's ability to produce sufficient grain to feed its 1.4 billion people is a major contribution to global food security. This is the result of continued investments in modern technology, mechanization and irrigation, as well as enhanced food safety," the World Food Programme (WFP) writes on its website.

Common development

Thursday also marks the World Food Day organized by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), with the theme "Hand in Hand for Better Foods and a Better Future".

President Xi on Thursday congratulated the FAO on the 80th anniversary of its founding, Xinhua reported.

According to data from the FAO, 673 million people still face hunger worldwide, while 2.3 billion experience food insecurity.

"China has been committed to improving food security and reducing poverty globally through international cooperation. President Xi Jinping put forward the Global Development Initiative and listed food security as one of the eight priority areas of cooperation in the initiative," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said at a press briefing on Thursday.

Lin stated that as the world's largest food producer, China grows food with less than nine percent of the world's arable land and feeds over 1.4 billion people. In recent years, China's overall grain output has increased steadily. One fifth of global grain production comes from China. China has made remarkable contributions to global food security.

Thanks to its own effort, China, once a recipient of FAO technology, has turned to a core contributor to the organization. China has provided more funding and experts and undertaken more projects than any other developing country under the framework of the FAO's South-South Cooperation Program, Lin said.

According to the spokesperson, China has carried out agricultural cooperation with more than 140 countries and regions, provided more than 1,000 agricultural technologies to other developing countries, and trained over 14,000 technicians on hybrid rice technology. With concrete actions, we have helped ease the food shortage in the Global South and put the world on course to the vision of zero hunger and zero poverty.

China has made remarkable strides in tackling food security and poverty as a developing country, said Zheng, "Through the widespread adoption of innovative technologies, extreme weather response, as well as farmer training programs, China has developed a comprehensive set of agricultural and food policies and technical expertise that can be shared globally to advance sustainable development."

Li described China as a proactive participant and a strong advocate, and even a guider in terms of safeguarding global food security.

In September 2024 at the Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China pledged to provide Africa with 1 billion yuan ($141 million) in emergency food assistance, develop 100,000 mu of standardized agricultural demonstration areas, send 500 agricultural experts, and establish a China-Africa agricultural science and technology innovation alliance.  

Source: Global Times:
Company: Global Times
Contact Person: Anna Li
Email: editor@globaltimes.com.cn
Website: https://globaltimes.cn
City: Beijing


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