In the first half of the year, China’s agricultural and rural economy was stable and the output of summer grain was good, which became a highlight.

CCTV News:The State Council Information Office held a press conference this morning (July 20th). The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said that China’s agricultural and rural economy developed continuously and steadily in the first half of the year. In the first half of the year, China’s summer grain output became a highlight.

In the first half of the year, China’s summer grain output reached a record high, reaching 294.8 billion Jin, which became a prominent highlight of economic and social development. Early rice and autumn grain harvest have a good foundation. At present, the early rice harvest has exceeded 60%, and the harvest is in sight. The autumn grain area exceeds 1.3 billion mu, and the growth is generally normal. The supply of "vegetable basket" products is sufficient, and the market operation is generally stable.

In the first half of the year, China’s achievements in poverty alleviation continued to consolidate. 41.55 billion yuan of micro-credit was newly issued for the poverty-stricken population, supporting 945,000 poverty-stricken households and preventing the monitoring objects from returning to poverty to develop production. By the end of June, the number of migrant workers out of poverty was 33.23 million, and 106.7% of the annual target tasks were completed.

In the first half of the year, the industries for enriching the people in rural areas developed steadily, and the channels for increasing rural employment and income continued to expand. The added value of the national agricultural and sideline food processing industry increased by 3.3% year-on-year, and the online retail sales of agricultural products reached 290 billion yuan, up by 12.4% year-on-year. By the end of June, the employment rate of returning migrant workers reached 90.7%, up 2 percentage points year-on-year. Driven by industry and employment and entrepreneurship, the per capita disposable income of rural residents in the first half of the year was 9,787 yuan, with a real increase of 4.2%.

In the first half of the year, investment in agriculture and rural areas increased steadily, and the rural consumer market gradually recovered.

Zeng Yande, Director of the Development Planning Department of the Chief Agronomist of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs:The investment in fixed assets in the primary industry was 682.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4%. Rural consumption continued to recover, and the retail sales of rural consumer goods was 2.77 trillion yuan, basically the same as last year, returning to 98% in 2019.

Generally speaking, the agricultural and rural economy maintained a good momentum of development in the first half of the year, providing solid support for stabilizing prices, protecting people’s livelihood and stabilizing the economic market.