China’s “No. 1 Central Document”, (the CPC Central Committee and the State Council’s opinion on comprehensively promoting rural revitalization and speeding up the modernization of agriculture and rural areas), was officially released in February 21, 2021. The No.1 Document originally refers to the first document officially issued by the central government of China every year, but since the beginning of the 21st century, the document has focused on the issues of agriculture, rural areas and farmers for 18 consecutive years (all begin with the word “Nong” in Chinese). Now “No.1 Document” has become a fixed term for attaching importance to the work of “agriculture, rural areas and farmers”.
China is a large agricultural country, which has a tradition of emphasizing on agriculture since ancient times. The rural population accounts for about 40% of China’s total population. “Three rural issues” are related to the stable development and prosperity of the whole country. In China’s 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), the key task of poverty alleviation in the new era has been completed on schedule. Under the current standards, all the rural poor populations have shaved off poverty, all the poor counties have been removed from poverty and the task of poverty alleviation relocation has been fully completed.
How to further safeguard and consolidate these development achievements, further revitalize and prosper rural areas and accelerate the modernization of agriculture and rural areas is naturally the focus of the No.1 document this year. Afghanistan is also a nation of agriculture and animal husbandry. The development of agriculture and animal husbandry is related to the country’s economic lifeline. China’s experience in this field may be used for reference. The above-mentioned documents are of great significance and rich in connotation. It is difficult to describe them clearly in a few words. However, there are several highlights that I would like to share with my friends in Afghanistan here.
There are guarantees in policy. In 2021, the No. 1 Central Document proposed that after the completion of the target of poverty alleviation in the poor rural areas, government will set up a five-year transition period to ensure the achievements. They will improve the dynamic monitoring and assistance mechanism for preventing the poor return to poverty, find out and help the people who are easy to return to poverty in time, and keep the bottom line of preventing large-scale return to poverty. In addition, dynamic monitoring of rural low-income population would be carried out, and hierarchical and classified assistance would be implemented. That is to say, government would not only “present them the fishes”, but also “teach them how to fish”.
There are innovations in mechanism. The above-mentioned document proposes to strengthen the construction of grain production function zones and important agricultural production protection zones. It is also worth mentioning that government would expand the pilot range of full cost insurance and income insurance for rice, wheat and corn planting. These grains are also the basic rations for everyone in the world, but the final benefits brought by planting these grains will be affected by many factors such as market, natural disasters and even the international situation, which will affect the enthusiasm of farmers. The insurance pilot has been carried out in relevant areas, which is to avoid risks by purchasing insurance, so that the state can protect farmers’ production costs and final benefits. If it is effective, it could be further promoted nationwide.
There is a bottom line in safety. Cultivated land is the foundation of grain production, and land is the “lifeblood” of farmers. In 2021, the No. 1 Central Document put forward the principle of firmly holding 1 billion 800 million Mu (Chinese unit of area) of cultivated land as a red line and implementing the strictest farmland protection system. Cultivated land is a limited resource. National security depends on food security, and food security depends on cultivated land security.
China and Afghanistan are close neighbors and strategic cooperative partners. Under the framework of “Belt and Road”, the two sides have great potentials in policy communication, experience sharing and import and export of farm and animal husbandry products. 2021 is not only the beginning of China’s 14th Five-Year Plan, but also the key year for Afghanistan to move towards peace and reconciliation. We sincerely hope that the two countries will strive to build a community of common destiny with mutual benefits and bring real development dividends to the people of the two countries.
