China confident of food self-sufficiency: report

BEIJING - China is confident the nation's "rice bowl" will be firmly held in its own hands, an industry report said on Monday.

The country will remain self-sufficient in producing its main food crops and food consumption will have guaranteed safety by the end of the next decade, according to the newly-released China Agricultural Outlook Report (2015-2024).

Compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, the annual report forecasts demand and trade of major agricultural products in China over the next ten years to provide guidance to markets and take the initiative to react to changes in international markets.

The report said China's agricultural production will keep stable development, supply and demand of the market will remain balanced and agricultural consumption will grow fast over the next decade.

China will accelerate agricultural modernization to raise quality and efficiency of agriculture, continue to transform the pattern of agricultural development to attain intensive and sustainable growth, said the report.

China has made great progress in rural development in 2014 with grain output growing for the 11th year in a row last year, reaching 607 million tonnes.