The 15th Five-Year Plan outlines key measures to boost agricultural productivity and rural revitalization. It emphasizes increasing the yield per unit area of grain and oil crops while strengthening the security of seed resources. Additionally, the plan focuses on improving the integrated protection system for farmland, which covers quantity, quality, and ecological aspects, alongside strict management of land use compensation balances.
During the National People’s Congress sessions in March 2026, the government work report highlighted ten priority tasks, with the sixth focusing on comprehensive rural revitalization. This includes ensuring stable grain production, implementing targeted poverty alleviation measures, and advancing rural reforms. The approved 15th Five-Year Plan further elaborates on accelerating agricultural modernization and promoting rural development through three main approaches: enhancing overall agricultural production capacity and quality, building livable and prosperous villages, and improving policies to support farmers.
To increase the yield of major crops such as rice, wheat, corn, and soybeans, the plan calls for strengthening the supply guarantee of important agricultural products like grain. China’s grain output has shown steady growth in recent years, reaching record highs of 1.41 billion jin in 2024 and 1.43 billion jin in 2025. Both the sown area and yield per unit of grain crops have increased consistently since 2020, supporting overall production growth. In 2025, the sown area for grain crops reached 1.194 billion mu, up 0.1% from 1.19 billion mu in 2024, maintaining a multi-year upward trend.
Since the introduction of the Seed Industry Revitalization Action Plan in 2021, China has made institutional progress in safeguarding seed resources. The gap between China’s seed industry innovation and global standards has narrowed. The 15th Five-Year Plan emphasizes further implementation of seed industry revitalization, including enhanced protection and utilization of germplasm resources, improving commercial breeding systems, strengthening collaborative breeding efforts, and developing new high-yield, high-quality, stress-resistant crop varieties. By 2025, more than 95% of planted crop varieties in China were independently developed, and national seed supply bases achieved an 80% assurance rate.
The plan also advocates for a holistic farmland protection system that integrates quantity, quality, and ecology. It underscores strict enforcement of land use compensation policies, improved quality assessment mechanisms for supplemented farmland, and optimized agricultural land use planning. Thanks to rigorous management of land use balances and the implementation of permanent basic farmland protection rules, China’s total farmland area reached 1.94 billion mu in 2024, an increase of 28 million mu from 2020, representing a 16.88% growth. This firmly maintains the national minimum farmland area above 1.865 billion mu and permanent basic farmland above 1.546 billion mu. Provinces such as Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Henan, Jilin, and Xinjiang each have over 100 million mu of farmland, contributing to the gradual formation of an integrated protection framework.
China’s strategy of storing grain in the land and technology continues to deepen. Macro-policy adjustments and market demand are well aligned, with solid investments stabilizing the foundation and advanced technologies enhancing efficiency. This approach supports structural optimization and production capacity consolidation.
Potential risks include fluctuations in agricultural product prices, challenges in seed production, and changes in policy. For the full report, please contact your account manager.
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