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3) We will step up innovations in agricultural science and technology.
We will promote the raising of better quality, specific, and healthy crop varieties and livestock breeds, strive to develop and apply green and efficient technologies for farming and breeding, and support technological transformation of the food and other processing industries. A number of major agricultural laboratories and national agricultural science research stations will be developed. We will improve incentive mechanisms for innovations in agricultural science and technology, and move ahead with trial reforms for allowing agricultural scientists to receive greater benefits for their scientific achievements. We will further reform the system for applying agricultural technology in villages, explore new mechanisms for allowing public institutions and agricultural technicians to engage in for-profit services, and facilitate the reduction of costs and energy consumption and the enhancement of efficiency to bolster agricultural growth.
We will launch initiatives that ensure intelligent agriculture leads China's agricultural modernization, fully implement the project to bring information technology to villages and rural households, and expand trials and demonstrations for the application of the Internet of Things in the agricultural sector.
4) We will develop new industries and new forms of business in rural areas.
We will advance pilot and demonstration projects for integrating rural industries, channel secondary and tertiary industries toward county seats, key towns and townships, and industrial parks, and begin building modern agricultural industrial parks that integrate production, processing, and science and technology. We will support eligible agricultural enterprises in issuing corporate bonds and launching projects for integrated development of rural industries.
We will implement the three-year action plan for Internet Plus modern agriculture, and establish comprehensive demonstrations for introducing e-commerce into rural areas. We will promote in-depth integration of agriculture with the tourism, cultural, fitness, and elderly-care industries. Development will be pursued in a host of towns and villages that brings together industry, culture, and tourism, secures simultaneous improvements in working, living, and ecological conditions, and fully integrates the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries.
5) We will press ahead with agricultural and rural reform.
A proactive yet prudent approach will be adopted in promoting reforms of the price-setting mechanism for grain and other important agricultural products as well as the system for their purchase and storage. We will continue to implement and improve the policy for setting minimum state-purchase prices for rice and wheat, and make appropriate adjustments to minimum purchase prices, so as to ensure a rational ratio of minimum purchase prices to market prices. We will enhance the price-setting mechanism for corn in the northeast that combines market-based purchase prices and supplementary government subsidies, and reduce excess stockpiles of policy-supported grain in a steady and orderly manner. We will improve the policy for guaranteeing base prices for cotton and adjust the pricing policy for soybeans. Improvements will be made to the system of agricultural subsidies, ensuring that relevant reforms are oriented toward green development and ecological progress. Comprehensive reform of pricing for water used in agriculture will be advanced across the board.
Reform of the rural collective property-rights system will be deepened to clearly identify rural collective property rights and to grant rural residents more adequate property rights. We will reform the mechanism for ensuring budgetary support for agriculture and work to merge rural-development funds. We will implement measures for separating land ownership rights, contract rights, and management rights for contracted rural land. We will make overall arrangements to carry out trial reforms with regard to rural land requisition, the marketization of rural collective land designated for commercial construction, and the system for rural residential land. We will cultivate new types of agribusiness and agricultural service providers, and promote the development of suitably scaled-up operations of land in diversified forms.
A catastrophe insurance scheme will be introduced in some regions for farmers whose operations are suitably scaled-up. We will improve the agricultural reinsurance system and ensure sustainable and sound agricultural insurance schemes provide strong support for the development of modern agriculture.
3. We will continue to tap the potential of domestic demand.
We will lay emphasis on tapping demand through innovative forms of supply and consolidating the foundation of domestic demand.
On the one hand, we will work to expand and upgrade consumer spending.
We will continue to advance the Ten Initiatives for Boosting Consumer Spending; respond to new trends in consumer demand; promote reform and innovation so as to increase effective supply to consumers, especially in service and green industries; and keep consumption growing steadily. Total retail sales of consumer goods are expected to increase by around 10% in 2017.
Restrictions on entry into service industries will be loosened and regulation over investment in the social domain will be relaxed. We will work to develop emerging areas of consumption such as combined medical and care services for the elderly, cultural & creative industries, and all-for-one tourism, and support nongovernmental participants in providing educational,cultural, elderly care, and medical services. Efforts will be made to promote consumption of information goods and services in areas such as digital homes, online education, and virtual reality. We will launch campaigns to speed up innovations in domestic commodity distribution, promote supply-side structural reform, and boost consumer spending. We will promote the integrated development of brick-and-mortar stores and online shopping.
China time-honored brands will be protected and carried forward. We will ensure that more domestically sold products come off the same production lines, meet the same standards, and are of the same quality as export products. We will work to achieve robust development in cold-chain logistics. Sound systems will be established to ensure the quality and safety standards of food and medicine and to allow for product traceability. Pricing oversight will be intensified and law enforcement will be stepped up to tackle monopolistic pricing so as to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
We will enhance incentive-based income distribution reform, implement incentive plans for key groups, and carry out trials for comprehensive and coordinated policies on increasing urban and rural incomes.
Box 14: Upgrading Consumer Spending
On the other hand, we will make targeted efforts to increase effective investment.
We will enhance efforts to bolster weaknesses in key areas and links in need of attention, so as to increase effective investment and effective supply. Total fixed-asset investment is projected to increase by around 9.0% in 2017. Investment from the central government budget is expected to be 507.6 billion yuan for the year; these funds will be channeled toward major strategic initiatives, major projects, and key construction tasks.
We will also work to stimulate private investment, earnestly implementing policies to provide encouragement and support, and further relaxing restrictions on the entry of private capital into competitive operations of basic telecommunications, exploration and exploitation of oil and gas, and defense-related science and technology. New modes of investment and financing will be created. In addition, we will continue to standardize and apply the PPP model, selecting and going ahead with projects that have adequate cash flow and expectations of steady returns. With a view to enhancing regulation over investment, we will develop new inspection and regulation methods, carry out comprehensive online monitoring, and intensify field inspections. (more)
