China to deepen rural reforms

BEIJING - China pledged to deepen rural reforms and step up agricultural modernization, according to a statement issued after a central rural work conference which ended on Tuesday.

The two-day meeting was attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and senior leaders Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli.

The central government's policies on the countryside, agriculture and peasants have been effective in arousing the enthusiasm of the peasants in the new century and have remarkably boosted the development of agriculture and the countryside, the statement said.

When defining a moderately prosperous society, the key is to observe the condition of peasantry, the statement said.

It must be noted that agriculture is still weak in the country's four pursuits for industrialization, informatization, urbanization and agricultural modernization. The countryside still lags behind in building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way, the statement said.