President Xi stresses the revitalization of China's rural area

China's President Xi Jinping has called for more efforts to be made to implement the government's rural revitalization strategy.

President Xi Jinping attends a panel discussion with his fellow deputies from Henan Province at the second session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing, March 8, 2019. [Photo: Xinhua]

President Xi made the call to action when he joined a meeting with legislators from Henan Province at the ongoing session of the National People's Congress in Beijing. Henan is one of China's biggest agricultural provinces, with nearly half of its population living in the rural areas.

The rural revitalization strategy aims to modernize agriculture and promote sustainable development in China's rural areas.

A bullet train runs on the Yangxian section of the Xi'an-Chengdu high-speed railway line in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, March 21, 2018. [File Photo: Xinhua]

The leading goal of the government's strategy is to ensure a sufficient supply of farm produce to meet the needs of China's population. President Xi stressed the importance of maintaining the target of 120 million hectares of arable land, which is what is needed to provide the baseline level of food security for the country.

Two workers repair railways in Baotou, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, June 27, 2018. [File Photo: IC]

Speaking about the three-year campaign that started last year to improve living conditions in rural areas, President Xi said that more should be done to ensure that the environment in China’s rural areas is protected, and that the treatment of pollution in rural regions is better addressed.

President Xi also spoke with the legislators from Henan Province about the government's plans to encourage more investment into rural infrastructure, namely the construction of roads, irrigation systems, clean water sources, and broadband services. And he pledged that the country's welfare system would take care of left-behind children, women, and elderly people in rural areas.