China's State Council Information Office has just held a press conference with the Minister of Agriculture, Sun Zhengcai. He spoke about China's agricultural achievements and rural development since the founding of the People's Republic.

Particularly since China's policy of reform and opening up that was adopted in 1978, China has witnessed dramatically improved agricultural production. This has contributed to solving the problem of domestic food security by relying on the country's own efforts. China's farm production has progressed from long-term shortages to a general balance with some surplus in good harvest years.

China has stepped up the restructuring of its agriculture system. It has transformed traditional agricultural methods by using advanced technology to improve farmland output capacity. Meanwhile, it has also been readjusting the rural economic structure by vigorously developing secondary and tertiary industries to upgrade the overall performance of agriculture.

As a result of these measures, the quality of farm produce has seen solid improvements. The development has played an important role in securing the supply of farm produce and increasing farmers' income.

Sun Zhengcai, Minister of Agriculture, said, "Despite the global financial crisis and a rare drought this summer, the country saw a good harvest of summer grain. The income of farmers is increasing steadily, too. This is significant for promoting consumption and domestic demand."

Particularly since China's policy of reform and opening up that was adopted in 1978, China has witnessed dramatically improved agricultural production. This has contributed to solving the problem of domestic food security by relying on the country's own efforts.

While marking the achievements, the minister noted the country still has a long way to go in the development of agriculture, rural economy and the goal to improve the lives of farmers.

Sun said, "We must be aware that the challenge remains great for a country with such a huge population. We need further work to ensure farm produce supply and security, to increase farmers' income and shrink the gap between rural and urban economies."

In response to a question of recent fluctuations of farm produce prices, the ministry said that this is because of a recovery from earlier lower levels. He noted that the supply of major items has been adequate and increasing steadily. He also said the prices of some products are simply following a seasonal fluctuation momentum. They are within the normal range of farm produce prices, and will not cause inflation.