Report highlights importance of agriculture in urban-rural integration

The 2024 China Rural Studies Report was released at a seminar organized by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences on Thursday, highlighting the priority of developing agriculture and rural areas in urban-rural integration.

Zhang Hecheng, head of Rural Revitalization Academy at CAAS, said the report, as a key reference for rural vitalization efforts, offered groundbreaking insights into urban-rural integration and the evolution of agricultural support policies.

The report emphasized six critical disparities between rural and urban areas in terms of income, wealth, infrastructure, public services, agricultural technology and the digital divide.

It calls for the improvement of industrial vitality, infrastructure completeness, residential comfort and public service accessibility as central drivers of integration.

Key innovations in rural studies were spotlighted in the report, including new research progress on policies to incentivize grain production, advances in addressing rural improvements in industry, infrastructure and living conditions, as well as trends of rural income and expenditure, Zhang said.

The report focused both on academic research and educational outreach, aiming to develop a theoretical framework for rural studies and contributing to the curriculum of agricultural universities nationwide, according to the academy.