Original Title: Several Opinions of the Municipal Government on Supporting the Construction of the Jiangsu Suqian Provincial Agricultural High-Tech Industrial Demonstration Zone

To the People’s Governments of All Counties and Districts, the Administrative Committees of All Municipal Development Zones, New Areas, and Industrial Parks, All Municipal Commissions, Offices, and Bureaus, and All Municipal Directly Affiliated Units:

The construction of the Jiangsu Suqian Provincial Agricultural High-Tech Industrial Demonstration Zone (hereinafter referred to as the “Agricultural High-Tech Zone”) is a strategic decision made by the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government to implement the new development philosophy and advance the long-term development of agriculture, rural areas, and farmers across the province. It is a crucial measure to promote high-quality agricultural development in our city and implement the rural revitalization strategy. In accordance with the provincial implementation guidelines for the Agricultural High-Tech Zone and the spirit of the provincial government’s approval, the following opinions are hereby put forward to support the construction of the Agricultural High-Tech Zone.

I. Objectives and Requirements

Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we will thoroughly implement the decisions and deployments of the Central Committee, the Provincial Party Committee, and the Provincial Government. With “green and high-end” as the theme, we will build high-quality park infrastructure, aggregate key resources, innovate development models, commercialize scientific and technological achievements, and develop high-tech industries. Our goal is to establish a modern agricultural innovation hub, a talent hub, and an industrial hub that exerts influence throughout the province and even nationwide.By 2025, we aim to cultivate a cohort of agricultural technology enterprises, assemble a group of scientific and technological talent teams, introduce a range of agricultural scientific and technological achievements, achieve breakthroughs in a series of core technologies, and establish a number of high-level scientific and technological innovation platforms. We will comprehensively enhance agricultural technological innovation capacity, digital application levels, industrial agglomeration, and overall agricultural benefits, thereby forming a municipal demonstration zone for deep processing of agricultural products, a leading zone for high-end intelligent agricultural fruit and vegetable industries, and a pioneer zone for green development in modern agriculture. These efforts will radiate and drive high-quality agricultural development across the city and serve as a model for agricultural modernization throughout the province.

II. Key Tasks

(1) Cultivating Innovation Entities. Implement more flexible investment promotion policies, intensify efforts to attract and cultivate leading agricultural enterprises and agricultural technology-based enterprises, and gather a group of agricultural high-tech enterprises and agricultural research institutions with strong R&D capabilities, high technical standards, and good comprehensive benefits. Support eligible enterprises in integrating with scientific and educational institutions to enhance core competitiveness.Strengthen the agricultural science and technology service system, prioritizing the development of “Star Innovation Spaces,” rural science and technology service supermarkets, and Yafu Science and Technology Service Stations. By 2025, cultivate 10 agricultural technology-based enterprises and establish more than 10 science and technology innovation service platforms. (Responsible Departments: Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, Municipal Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, Municipal Commerce Bureau, Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Municipal Academy of Agricultural Sciences)

(2) Strengthen Leading Industries. Focus on developing eco-friendly brewing of raw grains and deep processing of floral, fruit, and vegetable products; promote the coordinated development of seed and seedling industries as well as agricultural product design and packaging; and optimize modern leisure agriculture centered on wine culture.Emphasizing the theme of “green and high-end,” we will develop facility agriculture, ecological agriculture, and smart agriculture to advance high-end cultivation methods; introduce and develop new varieties of agricultural consumer goods and deep-processing technologies to achieve high-end agricultural processing; and leverage the brand influence of “Yanghe” to boost the development of high-quality fruits and vegetables such as apples and grapes, thereby achieving high-end agricultural branding.Accelerate the integrated development of the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors, promote the extension of industrial chains toward the mid-to-high end, and comprehensively enhance the overall efficiency of the agricultural industry. By 2025, the demonstration area for high-efficiency facility agriculture will exceed 20,000 mu, the output value of deep-processed agricultural products will reach 7.5 billion yuan, and the total output value of the Agricultural High-Tech Zone will exceed 10 billion yuan. (Responsible Departments: Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences)

(3) Focus on Science and Technology Innovation Platforms. Establish liaison and exchange mechanisms with renowned domestic agricultural universities and research institutions, including the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China Agricultural University, Jiangnan University, Nanjing Agricultural University, and the Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, to build a series of science and technology innovation platforms based on laboratories, engineering and technology research centers, experimental bases, and expert workstations.Support Nanjing Agricultural University, the Institute of Microbiology of the Heilongjiang Academy of Sciences, the Royal New Zealand Institute of Plant and Food Research, and Hokkaido University in Japan to establish industrial research institutes within the Agricultural High-Tech Zone, and make every effort to build a comprehensive modern agricultural science and technology innovation complex that integrates agricultural research, practical teaching, achievement incubation, variety展示, testing and experimentation, and comprehensive services. By 2025, build more than 20 high-level science and technology innovation platforms of various types.(Responsible Departments: Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, Municipal Academy of Agricultural Sciences)

(IV) Accelerate Talent Recruitment and Training. Leveraging research platforms such as key laboratories, engineering (technology) research centers, crop variety improvement centers, enterprise technology centers, postdoctoral research stations, and industrial technology research institutes, we will vigorously recruit and train scientific and technological talent and innovation teams to conduct research activities—including technology R&D, demonstration and promotion, and technology transfer—in the Agricultural High-Tech Zone, thereby attracting more high-level agricultural talent.Leveraging the talent resources of universities and research institutions, we will jointly establish a Science and Technology Special Envoy Entrepreneurship Training Base that integrates R&D, technology transfer, and training. We will conduct science and technology training at various levels to accelerate the transformation of agricultural scientific and technological achievements into actual productive capacity. By 2025, we aim to attract and cultivate more than 100 high-level agricultural science and technology talents (teams). (Responsible Departments: Municipal Talent Office, Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, Municipal Foreign Affairs Office, Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, Municipal Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, Municipal Academy of Agricultural Sciences)

(5) Strengthen Technological R&D. Accelerate breakthroughs in key core technologies in fields such as biological breeding, green agricultural inputs, agricultural machinery, and deep processing of agricultural products. Focus on close collaboration with universities, research institutes, and experts within the agricultural system in areas including biological fermentation, bioextraction, variety improvement, virus-free seedlings, and biological pest and disease control.Strengthen research on key generic technologies for distinctive and competitive agricultural industries, promote technology integration and the commercialization of research outcomes, and enhance industrial innovation capacity and long-term development potential. By 2025, promote more than 100 new technologies and products, and file or obtain authorization for more than 50 invention patents, utility model patents, and new plant variety rights. (Responsible Departments: Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, Municipal Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, Municipal Market Regulation Bureau, Municipal Academy of Agricultural Sciences)

(6) Develop Digital Agriculture. Vigorously develop smart agriculture, promote the deep integration of modern information technology with agricultural production, operations, management, and services, and facilitate the digital transformation of enterprises such as Sweit Fruit Industry, Runyi International Agriculture, and Agricultural Carnival to achieve precision planting, intelligent management, and traceability.Support companies such as China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom, and China Tower in prioritizing the deployment of 5G base stations in the Agricultural High-Tech Zone to ensure the efficient application of 5G networks in production scenarios. Empower agriculture with modern information technology to establish an agricultural Internet of Things (IoT) demonstration base. By 2025, the development level of digital agriculture and rural areas will reach over 75%. (Responsible Units: Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, Municipal Science and Technology Bureau)

(7) Promote Integration and Sharing. Focusing on key areas such as wine culture experiences, agricultural sightseeing and picking, agricultural science education, and ecological wellness, we will expand the agricultural industry chain encompassing cultivation, breeding, processing, tourism, and retail. We will achieve multi-sector integration, promote the cross-sectoral allocation of resources and factors within the Agricultural High-Tech Zone, and realize the comprehensive development of “Agriculture+.”Deepen the integrated development of industry and urban areas, accelerate the improvement of town and village layout planning, and establish a comprehensive system that integrates agricultural cultivation zones, facility bases, agricultural product processing zones, concentrated residential areas, and public service infrastructure. Strengthen the design and construction of individual projects to achieve the joint construction and sharing of infrastructure and public services across towns, villages, and districts, thereby forming a development pattern characterized by the synergy of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries and the integration of industry and urban areas.(Responsible Departments: Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, Municipal Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, Municipal Natural Resources and Planning Bureau, Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, Municipal Education Bureau, Municipal Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism Bureau, Municipal Health Commission, Municipal Supply and Marketing Cooperative Federation)

(8) Promote Green Development. Leveraging leading research institutions, accelerate innovation and breakthroughs in the protection and utilization of agricultural resources such as soil and water, the reduction and more efficient use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the resource recovery of agricultural waste, and the improvement of the rural living environment. Promote green agricultural technologies to achieve ecological and green agricultural production, and create a green environment characterized by clean water, fresh air, and safe soil.By 2025, green and high-quality branded agricultural products will account for more than 80% of the total in the Agricultural High-Tech Zone; fertilizer utilization rates will exceed 45%; and the total use of chemical pesticides will be more than 25% lower than the citywide average. (Responsible Departments: Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment, Municipal Bureau of Water Resources, Municipal Supply and Marketing Cooperative Federation, Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources and Planning, Municipal Bureau of Science and Technology)

(9) Deepening Integrated Reforms. Fully leveraging Suqian’s advantages as a pilot city for integrated “streamlining administration, delegating power, and improving services” reforms, and building upon the preferential policies granted under the pilot program, we will focus on institutional innovation in scientific research and the commercialization of research outcomes. We will explore pathways to realize the value of agricultural scientific and technological achievements and establish a model for integrated innovation in agricultural science and technology systems and mechanisms. By 2025, the contribution rate of agricultural scientific and technological progress will exceed the citywide average by 10 percentage points, and net income per mu of land will be 30% higher than the citywide average.(Responsible Departments: Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, Municipal Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, Municipal Finance Bureau)

III. Policy Measures

(1) Land Use Support. Priority will be given to securing land use quotas for major industrial projects, scientific research platform projects, agricultural product processing projects, and supporting projects within the Agricultural High-Tech Zone. At least 800 mu of special land allocation quotas will be added to the territorial spatial planning, and land use quota indicators for major industrial projects at the municipal level and above will be coordinated and allocated.The core area of the Agricultural High-Tech Zone will be incorporated into the town planning, and relevant procedures for existing land within the core area will be standardized. Proceeds from land consolidation and exchange transactions within the Agricultural High-Tech Zone, as well as revenues from the transfer of state-owned commercial land, will be prioritized for project construction within the Agricultural High-Tech Zone. (Responsible Departments: Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources and Planning, Municipal Finance Bureau)

(2) Talent Support. Introduced “high-end, specialized, and scarce” talent shall be entitled to various municipal-level talent policies regarding housing, children’s education, and spousal relocation in accordance with regulations, and shall be recommended for inclusion in the provincial and municipal lists of young and middle-aged experts with outstanding contributions and recipients of the State Council’s Special Government Allowance.Support scientific and technical personnel from universities and research institutes within and outside the province to bring their scientific and technological achievements to the Agricultural High-Tech Zone for innovation and entrepreneurship. For talent teams with significant influence, a “case-by-case” and “tailored-to-individual” approach will be implemented regarding project funding, startup support, equity investment, and loan interest subsidies. (Responsible Departments: Municipal Talent Office, Municipal Education Bureau, Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, Municipal Finance Bureau, Municipal Local Financial Regulatory Bureau, Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau)

(3) Scientific and Technological Support. Provide tiered support for science and technology innovation platforms in the Agricultural High-Tech Zone, such as comprehensive innovation complexes, technology innovation centers, and laboratories. For platforms recognized at the provincial level or above, or those undertaking special projects commissioned by higher-level authorities, provide matching funds on a 1:1 basis, with a maximum subsidy of 5 million yuan per project.Agricultural high-tech industry projects, strategic emerging industry projects, R&D innovation platforms, science and technology service platforms, and innovative talent resources introduced at the municipal level shall be prioritized for placement in the Agricultural High-Tech Zone and receive priority support in terms of science and technology funding. For major innovation platforms and carriers that establish operations in the zone, a “case-by-case” incentive and subsidy policy shall be adopted. Enterprises in the Agricultural High-Tech Zone that are approved as national-level or provincial-level “Star Innovation Spaces” shall receive rewards of 200,000 yuan and 100,000 yuan, respectively;a 100,000 yuan reward for being designated as a provincial agricultural technology enterprise; and a 50,000 yuan reward for establishing a provincial rural science and technology service supermarket or a Yafu Science and Technology Service Workstation. The reward and subsidy funds will be shared equally (50% each) by the municipal and Yanghe New District finances. (Responsible Departments: Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, Municipal Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Municipal Industry and Information Technology Bureau, Municipal Finance Bureau)

(IV) Project Support. Enterprises in the Agricultural High-Tech Zone will be given priority in applying for various central, provincial, and municipal agricultural-related special funds, and support will be provided for infrastructure construction in the zone. Roads, power supply, water supply, gas supply, heating, and drainage systems will be incorporated into municipal-level infrastructure construction projects and implemented by the relevant departments. By 2025, the annual quota for upgrading high-standard farmland will be no less than 6,000 mu, with the goal of achieving full coverage of high-standard farmland construction as soon as possible.Supporting facilities such as water conservancy in the Agricultural High-Tech Zone shall be incorporated into the city’s agricultural water infrastructure development framework and given priority for implementation. (Responsible Departments: Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Municipal Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, Municipal Water Resources Bureau, Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, Municipal Transportation Bureau, Municipal Power Supply Company)

(5) Financial Support. The municipal agricultural investment fund shall prioritize increased support for projects in the Agricultural High-Tech Zone. Support financial institutions such as banks in cooperating with the Agricultural High-Tech Zone; actively seek re-lending and rediscounting quotas from higher-level authorities; guide local legal-person banking institutions to innovate “re-lending + agricultural credit products”; support banking institutions in implementing mortgage loans secured by rural land contract management rights and piloting innovative mortgage loans secured by agricultural facility property rights; and increase credit support for key projects and enterprises in the Agricultural High-Tech Zone.Comprehensively implement policy-based agricultural insurance, pilot new insurance products, explore “bank-insurance integration” mechanisms, promote “agricultural insurance-backed loans,” and provide credit enhancement for loan applicants who have purchased agricultural insurance in the Agricultural High-Tech Zone. (Responsible Departments: Municipal Local Financial Regulatory Bureau, People’s Bank of China Suqian Branch, Suqian Banking and Insurance Regulatory Sub-bureau, Municipal Finance Bureau, Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs)

(6) Fiscal Support. Actively seek relevant special funds from central and provincial governments to support project construction in the Agricultural High-Tech Zone; increase the allocation of municipal and district agricultural funds to the Agricultural High-Tech Zone to support its development. (Responsible Departments: Municipal Finance Bureau, Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs)

(7) Institutional Support. Strive to ensure that the Agricultural High-Tech Zone’s management body operates in accordance with the provincial high-tech zone management model; provide strong support regarding the Zone’s institutional structure and staffing; and grant corresponding economic management approval and administrative management authorities in accordance with the law. The Yanghe New District shall establish a development company responsible for the Agricultural High-Tech Zone’s construction, investment and financing, and operational management, with the goal of achieving “2A+” credit rating status. (Responsible Departments: Municipal Party Committee Organization Department, Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, Municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, Municipal Administrative Approval Bureau)

(8) Organizational Support. The municipal government will establish a Leading Group for Agricultural High-Tech Zone Construction, headed by the top municipal leader as group leader and the relevant deputy leader as deputy group leader. This group will be responsible for studying and addressing major issues arising during the construction process and for coordinating and advancing project implementation. The Leading Group’s Office will be housed within the Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, which will be specifically responsible for coordinating and advancing the construction of the Agricultural High-Tech Zone. (Responsible Departments: Member units of the Leading Group for Agricultural High-Tech Zone Construction)