1st LD-Writethru: China holds high-level meeting to plan rural work for 2016

Chinese leaders held a central rural work conference on Thursday to review the country's rural and agricultural work in 2015 and to map out plans for 2016 and beyond.

The annual meeting is expected to form strategies to secure supply of major farm produce, transform the development mode of agriculture and expand public culture services and the social security system to cover both urban and rural regions.

China has laid a relatively sound foundation for rural development, but it faces a complicated environment as it enters a crucial stage of agricultural modernization in the coming years, analysts said.

Production has maintained decent growth this year, reaping a bumper grain harvest for the 12th consecutive year in 2015, with grain output up 2.4 percent from one year earlier to total 621.44 million tonnes, according to official figures.

The per capita net income of Chinese farmers is expected to exceed 10,000 yuan (1,544 U.S. dollars) this year, after outpacing urban resident income growth and the national GDP growth for five years in a row.

However, some farm produce saw price fluctuations this year and farmers were less motivated to grow grains, while land and water resources became more strained.

The government aims to ensure food security, keep stable income growth for farmers, accelerate efforts to modernize infrastructure and improve production capability and quality in 2016, said a statement released after the Central Economic Work Conference, a key economic meeting, on Monday. Endi