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Press Release for Media Briefing by the Shanghai Municipal Government on September 27, 2019

09.29.2019

The Information Office of Shanghai Municipality held a press conference today (September 27) where Zhang Guokun, director of the Shanghai Municipal Agricultural Commission, briefed the media about the progress the city has made in promoting high-quality development in rural areas and the full implementation of its rural revitalization strategy. Deputy Directors Fang Fang, Wang Guozhong and Li Erli also attended the conference.

The Communist Party of China Shanghai Committee and the municipal government attach great importance to the rural revitalization strategy. Since the beginning of this year, relevant government departments and districts with rural areas have closely followed the general guidelines set by CPC Shanghai Committee and the municipal government, spared no efforts in implementing the strategy and therefore made breakthroughs in many aspects.

Overall situation of the rural revitalization strategy

With “Sanyuan Project,” which refers to beautiful homes, green farmlands and happy communities, at the core of the rural revitalization strategy, the city’s agricultural commission has been focusing its works on the following six areas:

First, adhere to master planning. By combining forces of relevant municipal departments, the city has worked out the “Shanghai Rural Planning Guidelines (Trial)” and “Guidelines for the Plan, Design and Construction of Rural Landscapes,” finished the compiling of layout for 86 rural sub-districts and kicked off the planning of 84 villages. The city has finished its agricultural layout, categorized agricultural production into three types of zones, namely grain, vegetables and specialty agricultural products. Measures for agricultural production management have also been worked out and the overall layout has been incorporated into the Shanghai Urban Space Basic Information Platform, making the city the first in the country to manage the rural and urban resources on “one map.”

Secondly, launch the construction of model villages under the rural revitalization scheme. In June last year, the first batch of nine villages was launched and by July this year, all targets have been met and tasks completed with notable improvement in various aspects. Now works on the second batch of 28 villages have begun with everything moving forward in an orderly manner.

Thirdly, promote the concentration of farmers. In order to solve the problem of scattered layout, outdated houses and messy styles, further improve the ecological habitability of rural areas, and regard the concentration of farmers as the key work of rural revitalization in the city. This year, under the instruction of Municipal Housing and Urban Construction Management Committee, a total of 12, 600 households were concentrated, focusing on “three highs and two districts” (60%), supplemented by merger of scattered households (40%); the resettlement method is mainly vertical moving (59%), and supplemented by horizontal movement (41%). At present, a library of housing projects for concentrating farmers has been established for the next three years, and technical, human and organizational preparations are being strengthened to lay a solid foundation for achieving the goal of 50,000 rural households to be concentrated by 2022.

Fourthly, promote the high-quality development of agriculture. Shanghai will put the supply of green agricultural products in a prominent position, cultivate 582 green-food enterprises, 955 products, and increase the certification of green agricultural products; build a public promotion platform for green agricultural products in Shanghai, and increase the public's awareness and sensitivity to local certified green agricultural products. It will adjust and optimize the agricultural layout structure, withdraw from wheat planting, expand the planting area of special agricultural products, change the development mode of animal husbandry, and promote healthy fish farming. The work of agro-ecological environmental protection was continuously promoted, and two eco-circulation agricultural demonstration zones and three demonstration towns were launched. The city's fertilizer and pesticide use decreased by 26.7% and 34.6% respectively compared with 2015.

Fifthly, deepen the comprehensive assistance to the rural areas. The city will start a new round of comprehensive rural assistance, the city raised no less than 5 billion yuan to help the construction of a number of industrial projects with high added value in the relatively weak agricultural areas, develop and strengthen the rural collective economy, and focus on helping farmers with difficulties in living and comprehensively improve the quality and level of life of farmers. At present, the annual donation funds have been put in place on time, and a total of 590 million yuan of donation funds have been implemented. The construction of 7 supporting projects has also been promoted this year. At the same time, targeted vocational training for farmers was carried out. the cultivation of new professional peasant teams was speed up, the transfer of non-agricultural employment of rural surplus labor was accelerated, and continue promoting farmers’ income increase. At present, 12,699 peasants have been registered and 6,729 peasants have jobs. According to statistics, in the first half of the year, the disposable income of rural residents per capita in Shanghai reached 19,007 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.3%.

Sixthly, strengthen rural governance. Shanghai has completed village-level collective ownership reform, which works under a mechanism that is led by the village Party organizations, self-governed by village commissions, self-developed by village’s collective business units and supervised by village supervision commission. The city adheres to the principle of combining self-governance, rule of law and rule of virtue together to keep improving rural governance system and lift governance capabilities. About 1,157 villages in the city have fully realized open working spaces, 572 villages have completed the construction of information platforms for transparent village affairs and financial affairs. Shanghai has also strengthened construction and distribution of cultural facilities for rural areas to transmit positive social sentiment and promote civilized rural customs. The city accelerated the construction of smart security system and trialed to nurture 18 model villages for China’s rule of law, while the effect of selecting city-level civilized village was notable.

Main features

First, high-level support is the key. Shanghai Party Secretary Li Qiang and Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong have organized several on-site meetings to accelerate the scheme. Officials at the CPC Shanghai Committee and the municipal government have offered timely solutions for problems created during the scheme. The Shanghai People’s Congress pushed forward legislation to strengthen legal support. The local committee of CPPCC has collected suggestions from a wide range of people to give knowledge support. Various government departments collaborated together to make policies. Party secretary and chief of nine districts have participated in planning, implementing and accelerating various tasks in the rural revitalization scheme.

Secondly, policy guarantee is the foundation. Shanghai has strengthened planning and made implementing opinions, strategic planning and implementing plans. When there were problems, the city formulated problem list and policy list to offer one-on-one solutions.

Thirdly, innovation is the method. Shanghai has made key tasks for rural revitalization scheme each year, and launched a management system to regulate the project with clear targets and regular supervision based on monthly reports, quarterly check and yearly assessment.

Fourthly, Party construction is the core. Shanghai has always combined closely of basic construction of Party affairs with the scheme to prevent even minor corruption.

Major tasks in the next step

Shanghai Municipal Agricultural Commission will continue to follow the work arrangements of CPC Shanghai Committee and the municipal government. The commission will improve the pressure transmission mechanism, better adapt local conditions and provide guidance, in order to solve problems existing in the current rural revitalization and promotion process, make the good policies truly effective and promote development of rural areas in an orderly manner according to the schedule.

First, the city will make good positioning of rural area functions in the new era. It is necessary to position the village as a strategic space for urban level and core competitiveness. The commission will further enhance the ability of decision-making, planning and leading ability in the rural revitalization as well as make the rural area become the highlight of Shanghai's international metropolis and the background color of “beautiful Shanghai.”

Secondly, the city will stimulate the vitality of rural rejuvenation. Shanghai will deepen the land reform, separate rural land ownership rights, contract rights and management rights, revitalize the collective construction land, ensure the needs of various types of land use in rural construction, deepen the reform of rural housing sites and actively explore the paid exit mechanism of homesteads. The city will revitalize and integrate all kinds of funds on the premise of ensuring controllable risks, revitalize and utilize the deposited funds in the rural collective funds. The city will coordinate financial agriculture-related funds, optimize fiscal capital investment and project management. The agriculture commission will focus on green ecology, promote key target and task, policy resources and improve quality and efficiency. Shanghai will consolidate the construction of rural teams, focus on building and strengthening rural grassroots party organizations, continue to strengthen the "squad leader's project" and effectively play the role of "leaders" in rural areas.

Thirdly, the city will build consensus and unite all forces. Shanghai will give full play to the leading role of the government, continue to improve the operational mechanism of good planning, promote the construction of the second batch of rural revitalization demonstration villages, accelerate the relatively concentrated residence of farmers, continue to carry out rural human settlements, comprehensively promote the high-quality development of agriculture and deepen the integration of rural areas. The city will give play to the main role of farmers, cultivate their sense of ownership and realize the transition from passive cooperation to active participation. The commission will create a good atmosphere for the society, actively guide state-owned enterprises to participate in rural revitalization, optimize the business environment for agricultural and rural development, increase investment in agriculture and rural areas and publish the Shanghai Rural Revitalization Index in the form of a blue book through a third party. The city will further enhance its capability. It is necessary to play the role of the deliberation and coordination body, fulfill the decision-making, overall coordination, policy guidance, promotion of implementation, supervision and evaluation functions, change work style, improve work capability and strengthen the guidance of agriculture, rural areas and rural residents.