Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu on Tuesday stressed the importance of agricultural development and called for more efforts on construction of high-standard farmlands and major grain production bases.

Hui spoke at a two-day conference on national agricultural comprehensive development, which ended in Nanchang, east China's Jiangxi Province.

Agricultural development is an effective way for the government to support and protect agriculture, develop rural farmlands, enrich peasants, strengthen agricultural infrastructure and boost agricultural productivity and modernization, Hui said.

The determination to continue with the policy would not be swerved and more capital should go in that direction, Hui said.

Agricultural focuses on high-standard farmland construction, agricultural industrialization, promoting agricultural scientific progress and protecting and improving ecological environment of agriculture, Hui said.

China's agricultural development started in 1988 through renovating low and medium-yielding farmland, building high-standard farmland, promoting advanced technology in 13 major grain production bases across the country.

(Xinhua News Agency May 20, 2009)