In order to implement the spirit of the Central Rural Work Conference, the Central Document No. 1, and the National “Two Sessions,” carry out the Rural Revitalization Strategy, deepen agricultural supply-side structural reform, and accelerate the modernization of agriculture and rural areas, the central government will continue to increase investment in agriculture in 2018, strengthen the coordination and integration of projects, and improve the mechanisms for the use and management of funds. The key fiscal policies for strengthening and benefiting agriculture jointly implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Finance in 2018 are hereby announced as follows.
I. Direct Subsidies to Farmers
1. Subsidy for the Protection of Arable Land Fertility. The recipients of this subsidy are, in principle, farmers who cultivate land and hold arable land contracting rights. Subsidy funds will be disbursed directly to households through mechanisms such as the “One Card (Book)” system.The specific basis, eligibility criteria, and subsidy standards shall continue to be determined by each province (autonomous region, municipality) in accordance with the requirements of the “Notice of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture on the Comprehensive Implementation of the Reform of the ‘Three Agricultural Subsidies’” (Cai Nong [2016] No. 26), taking local conditions into account. Policy continuity and stability must be maintained to ensure that farmers directly benefit.Provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities) are encouraged to innovate their approaches, adopt a green and ecological orientation, and explore mechanisms linking subsidy disbursement to the fulfillment of arable land protection responsibilities, thereby guiding farmers to voluntarily improve soil fertility.
2. Agricultural Machinery Purchase Subsidies. The scope of machinery eligible for national agricultural machinery purchase subsidies funded by the central government covers 15 major categories, 42 subcategories, and 137 specific items, with open subsidies provided for all machinery within the eligible range.Eligible recipients include individuals and agricultural production and management organizations engaged in agricultural production. Priority will be given to ensuring subsidies for machinery required for the production of major agricultural products such as grain, as well as machinery supporting green agricultural development, including deep loosening and land preparation, no-till seeding, high-efficiency plant protection, water-saving irrigation, high-efficiency fertilization, straw return and removal, plastic film recovery, resource utilization of livestock and poultry manure, and the harmless disposal of dead livestock and poultry.Provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) are permitted to select up to three product categories to conduct pilot programs for subsidies on the purchase of new agricultural machinery, with a focus on machinery suitable for green and eco-oriented agriculture and for specialty industries in hilly and mountainous areas.
3. Producer Subsidies. Corn and soybean producer subsidies will be implemented in Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Inner Mongolia. The central government will centrally allocate funds for corn and soybean producer subsidies, which will be disbursed to producers through a “single card (or passbook)” system. The specific scope, basis, and standards of subsidies will be determined by the people’s governments of each province (autonomous region) in accordance with central requirements and local conditions; however, the subsidy standard for soybeans must be higher than that for corn.Provinces (autonomous regions) are encouraged to concentrate subsidy funds in areas with comparative advantages. To advance the reform of the minimum purchase price for rice and protect the income of rice farmers, rice subsidies will be implemented in major rice-producing provinces. The central government will allocate a certain amount of subsidy funds to the provinces, which will then formulate specific implementation plans.
4. Cotton Target Price Subsidies. The cotton target price subsidy policy will continue to be implemented in Xinjiang and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. The cotton target price level is set for a three-year period; for 2017–2019, it is 18,600 yuan per ton. Subsidy funds will be disbursed directly to actual cotton growers through mechanisms such as the “One Card (Book)” system.
II. Supporting the Development of New Types of Agricultural Business Entities
5. Training of New Professional Farmers. A comprehensive system for professional farmers will be established. Priority will be given to training leaders of new agricultural business entities, modern young farm owners, agricultural professional managers, key personnel in agricultural socialized services, and beneficiaries of agricultural industrial poverty alleviation. Training will focus on enhancing production skills and management capabilities, with the goal of training 1 million new professional farmers. The government will encourage capable farmer cooperatives, professional technical associations, and leading agricultural enterprises to undertake training through government procurement of services.
6. Capacity Building for Farmers’ Cooperatives and Family Farms. Focus support on national model farmers’ cooperatives, farmers’ cooperative federations, and model family farms that are institutionally sound, well-managed, and highly influential. Support the development of green and ecological agriculture, and enhance capabilities in standardized production, agricultural product processing, and marketing.
7. Socialized Agricultural Production Services. Support rural collective economic organizations, specialized agricultural service organizations, and service-oriented farmers’ cooperatives—entities with sufficient capacity to provide effective and stable services—to offer socialized services to producers of key agricultural products such as grain, cotton, oilseeds, and sugar. These services should target dominant industries like grain production and critical areas where farmers have urgent needs, promoting green, ecological, and efficient modern agricultural production methods on a large scale to achieve an organic integration between smallholder farming and modern agricultural development.
8. Development of the Agricultural Credit Guarantee System. Improve the national agricultural credit guarantee system and promote the extension of provincial-level credit guarantee institutions to cities and counties to ensure substantive operations.Prioritize serving new types of agricultural operators—such as large-scale crop and livestock producers, family farms, and farmers’ cooperatives—as well as agricultural socialized service organizations and small and micro agricultural enterprises. Focus on key areas including grain production, livestock and aquaculture, competitive and specialty industries, new rural business models, the integration of rural primary, secondary, and tertiary industries, as well as the construction of high-standard farmland, agricultural machinery and equipment, green production, and agricultural standardization, to provide convenient, efficient, and low-cost credit guarantee services.Support localities in adopting measures such as guarantee fee subsidies and business incentive grants to accelerate the expansion of agricultural credit guarantee loan volumes.
III. Supporting Agricultural Structural Adjustment
9. Pilot Program for the Cropland Rotation and Fallow System. The central government will support the expansion of the pilot program for the cropland rotation and fallow system to 24 million mu. Combined with the 6 million mu independently implemented by local governments, the total will reach 30 million mu. Rotation pilot projects will be carried out in Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Jiangsu, and Jiangxi;fallow pilot projects will be carried out in the Hei Long Gang groundwater depression area in Hebei, the heavy metal pollution area in the Changzhutan region of Hunan, the stone desertification areas in Southwest China, the severely ecologically degraded areas in Northwest China, the groundwater over-extraction areas for well-irrigated rice in cold regions of Heilongjiang, and the groundwater over-extraction areas in the Tarim River basin of Xinjiang. The central government will provide appropriate subsidies to farmers and new types of agricultural operators participating in the pilot projects for the crop rotation and fallow system.
10. Grain-to-Fodder Conversion. The scale of the grain-to-fodder conversion program will be expanded to 12 million mu, implemented in 17 provinces (regions) including Hebei and Shanxi, with a focus on the “Sickle Bend” region.Counties with large corn-growing areas, a solid foundation for cattle and sheep breeding, and a strong willingness to adjust crop structures will be selected for comprehensive implementation, using a “livestock-led crop adjustment” approach to drive structural changes. Subsidies will be provided to large-scale herbivore livestock farms (households) or specialized silage storage enterprises (cooperatives).
11. Construction of High-Yield, High-Quality Alfalfa Demonstration Bases. This initiative will be implemented in 13 provinces (regions), including Hebei and Shanxi, to support forage production cooperatives, forage production and processing enterprises, dairy cattle farms, and dairy farmer cooperatives in the concentrated, contiguous cultivation of high-yield, high-quality alfalfa. Demonstration bases should, in principle, cover a contiguous area of 3,000 mu or more.
12. Development of Leading Advantageous and Distinctive Industries. Support localities in promoting industrial development and increasing farmers’ income by focusing on leading agricultural industries with regional advantages and local characteristics, and by prioritizing the development of leading advantageous and distinctive industrial belts and key production areas.Launch demonstration projects for green and high-quality agricultural products. Through standardized and eco-friendly production, comprehensive quality supervision, full-chain industry operations, and integrated industrial development, we will expand, optimize, and strengthen advantageous and distinctive industries. We will cultivate and establish a group of influential regional public brands, corporate brands, and product brands, and demonstrate and promote modern agricultural development models characterized by high output efficiency, product safety, resource conservation, and environmental friendliness.
IV. Supporting the Integrated Development of Rural Industries
13. Construction of Modern Agricultural Industrial Parks. Building on provincial recommendations, we will continue to establish a new batch of National Modern Agricultural Industrial Parks and simultaneously designate a new batch of such parks. The central government will provide appropriate support through a grant-in-aid mechanism.
14. Integrated Development of Rural Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Industries. Deepen the integrated development of rural primary, secondary, and tertiary industries. Implement the “Revitalizing Villages and Strengthening Counties through Industry” initiative, using towns as platforms to guide and drive the development of characteristic, advantageous, and leading industries. Strengthen on-farm processing, packaging, and marketing of agricultural products to extend industrial chains, enhance value chains, and expand the multifunctionality of agriculture. Develop leisure agriculture, smart agriculture, and agricultural cultural industries; support agricultural industrialization; and foster new industries, business models, and operational approaches.
15. Province-wide Demonstration of Information Access to Villages and Households. Continue to select five provinces (cities) to carry out demonstrations. Relying on existing rural information service, financial insurance, and e-commerce platforms, integrate resources and improve functions to achieve one-stop services for technology, market, business, and government affairs information. The "Information Access to Villages and Households" initiative will be constructed and operated on a market-based model, with the central government providing a one-time grant.
V. Support for the Promotion of Green and Efficient Technologies
16. Green, High-Yield, and Efficient Production Demonstration. Focusing on the three major grains—rice, wheat, and corn—while also covering tubers, soybeans, miscellaneous grains and legumes, cotton, oilseeds, sugar crops, vegetables, fruits, and tea, select a group of counties with strong production foundations, distinct advantages, unique characteristics, and significant industrial driving force to carry out comprehensive demonstration projects. Demonstrate and promote green, high-yield, and efficient technical models to increase the supply of green and high-quality agricultural products.
17. Reform and Development of the Grassroots Agricultural Technology Extension System. Support agricultural counties with high implementation enthusiasm and strong task completion capabilities to advance the reform and innovation of the grassroots agricultural technology extension system. Explore mechanisms for the integrated development of public-interest and commercial agricultural technology extension services, and allow agricultural technicians to provide value-added services such as technology transfer and technical consulting while receiving reasonable compensation.Support eight provinces, including Jiangsu and Zhejiang, in conducting pilot programs for the coordinated promotion of major agricultural technologies, and establish a new chain-based agricultural technology extension service model featuring “two bases, one station, and one entity”—namely, agricultural research bases, regional demonstration bases, grassroots extension stations, and new types of agricultural business entities. Implement a special recruitment program for agricultural technology extension services in impoverished areas, particularly deeply impoverished regions, as well as other areas with such needs.
18. Mechanical Deep Tillage and Land Preparation. The area covered by mechanical deep tillage and land preparation will reach over 15 million mu. Support will be provided to 21 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities), including Tianjin and Hebei, to carry out mechanical deep tillage and land preparation operations in suitable areas. The operating depth is generally required to reach or exceed 25 centimeters, breaking through the plow pan. Professional service organizations are encouraged to provide socialized services.The four provinces and regions in Northeast China may provide subsidies for mechanized deep plowing (deep tillage) operations in suitable areas based on actual agricultural production needs.
19. Promotion of High-Quality Livestock Breeds in Pastoral Areas. Appropriate subsidies will be provided to beef cattle farms (communities, households) in eight provinces (regions), including Inner Mongolia and Sichuan, that use high-quality semen for artificial insemination, as well as to farmers with a stock of 30 or more breeding ewes or 25 or more breeding yaks.
20. Land Rights Certification and Registration. Continue to advance, according to plan, the certification and registration of rural land contract management rights and the certification and registration of state-owned land use rights in state-reclaimed areas.
VI. Support for Agricultural Resource Ecological Conservation and Non-point Source Pollution Control
21. Grassland Ecological Protection Subsidies and Incentives. Implement grazing bans, grass-livestock balance incentives, and performance evaluation incentives in eight provinces (autonomous regions)—Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang—as well as the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps; implement “comprehensive” policies and performance evaluation incentives in Hebei, Shanxi, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, and the Heilongjiang Provincial State Farm Administration.
22. Development of Modern Grassland Livestock Farming in Southern Regions. Support eight provinces, including Anhui and Jiangxi, in implementing the Southern Modern Grassland Livestock Farming Promotion Initiative. With agricultural and pastoral cooperatives and relevant livestock-related enterprises as the main entities, establish a number of cattle and sheep production bases characterized by large-scale grasslands, solid breeding foundations, distinct developmental advantages, and strong demonstration and leadership capabilities to develop grassland livestock farming.
23. Protection and Quality Improvement of Cultivated Land. In selected key counties, promote a set of technical models for cultivated land quality improvement and fertilizer reduction and efficiency enhancement on a regional and crop-specific basis. Relying on new types of agricultural business entities, provide soil enrichment, improvement, and scientific fertilization services.
24. Protection and Utilization of Black Soil in Northeast China. Continue to advance the protection and utilization of black soil in Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Inner Mongolia, expanding the scope of implementation. Designate a new batch of key counties to conduct pilot projects for comprehensive black soil protection and rehabilitation, and implement technical and engineering measures to control black soil erosion, increase soil organic matter content, conserve water and nutrients, and nurture black soil.
25. Pilot Programs for Comprehensive Utilization of Crop Straw. Launch pilot programs for the comprehensive utilization of crop straw in provinces (autonomous regions) with large volumes of crop straw and in the regions surrounding Beijing and Tianjin. Support approximately 150 key counties in implementing county-wide initiatives, adhering to the principles of diversified utilization and prioritizing agricultural use.
26. Fisheries Stocking and Vessel Reduction and Industry Transition. Conduct fisheries stocking in key water bodies such as major rivers and lakes within river basins, transboundary rivers, and marine areas with severely degraded resources. Promote vessel reduction and industry transition in marine fisheries, and support the construction of facilities including fishing vessel upgrades and renovations, vessel scrapping, artificial reefs, deep-water net pens, fishing ports, and communication and navigation systems.
27. Fishing Ban in Key Waters of the Yangtze River Basin. Establish a compensation system for the fishing ban in key waters of the Yangtze River Basin and support pilot fishing bans in aquatic biodiversity conservation areas within the basin.
28. Resource-based treatment of livestock and poultry manure. Continue to select key counties for pig, dairy cow, and beef cattle farming to implement county-wide governance for the resource-based utilization of livestock and poultry manure, and support eligible regions in advancing city-wide and province-wide governance initiatives.In accordance with the principle of government support, enterprise-led implementation, and market-oriented operation, with on-site and local use for rural energy and agricultural organic fertilizers as the primary utilization methods, upgrade and improve the entire set of manure collection, treatment, and utilization facilities to ensure that all large-scale farms achieve manure treatment and resource utilization, and strive to form an industrial structure featuring integrated agriculture and animal husbandry and a circular development model of crop and livestock production.
29. Action Plan for Replacing Chemical Fertilizers with Organic Fertilizers in Fruit, Vegetable, and Tea Production. Select 150 key counties with prominent advantages in fruit, vegetable, and tea cultivation, guaranteed organic fertilizer resources, mature application technologies, a solid industrial foundation, and strong local enthusiasm to implement the action plan. With new types of agricultural business entities as the primary implementers, explore a range of production and operation models such as “fruit-biogas-livestock,” “vegetable-biogas-livestock,” and “tea-biogas-livestock” to promote resource recycling.
30. Promote Clean Production Technologies for Plastic Mulch. Launch county-wide pilot programs for the recovery of waste plastic mulch in Inner Mongolia, Gansu, and Xinjiang. Support 100 counties in establishing and improving systems for the collection and processing of waste plastic mulch, and promote the establishment of recycling mechanisms involving multiple approaches, such as submission by agricultural operators, collection by specialized organizations, recovery by processing enterprises, and “trade-in” programs.Focusing on key crops such as cotton, corn, and potatoes, demonstrate and promote water-saving technologies including plastic mulch coverage, rainwater harvesting and supplemental irrigation, and drought and stress resistance. The thickness of plastic mulch must not be less than 0.01 millimeters.
31. Comprehensive Management of Groundwater Over-extraction. Focusing on the Heilonggang River Basin in Hebei, implement comprehensive management of groundwater over-extraction, promote agronomic water-saving measures, and carry out pilot projects for fallowing farmland.
32. Comprehensive Management of Heavy Metal-Contaminated Farmland. Focusing on the Changzhutan region of Hunan, carry out comprehensive management of heavy metal-contaminated farmland, promote adjustments to crop patterns, and implement pilot projects for fallowing farmland.
VII. Support for Agricultural Disaster Prevention and Relief
33. Agricultural Disaster Relief. Based on the principle of local authorities providing initial relief followed by central government subsidies, the central government will provide appropriate subsidies to localities for the prevention and control of major natural and biological disasters in agriculture, as well as for emergency relief and post-disaster production recovery.
34. Prevention and Control of Animal Diseases. The central government will provide appropriate subsidies for mandatory vaccination, mandatory culling, and the safe disposal of livestock in the farming sector. Support will be provided to eligible farms (households) through a “vaccinate first, receive subsidy later” approach for mandatory vaccination.
35. Agricultural Insurance Premium Subsidies. The crops and livestock included in the scope of central government insurance premium subsidies are corn, rice, wheat, cotton, potatoes, oilseeds, sugar crops, breeding sows, dairy cows, fattening pigs, forests, barley,yaks, Tibetan sheep, and natural rubber. In accordance with the principles of “voluntary participation” in agricultural insurance, the proportion of premiums paid by farmers shall be determined autonomously by each province, generally not exceeding 20%, with the remaining portion borne proportionally by fiscal authorities at all levels. Pilot programs for agricultural major disaster insurance will be thoroughly implemented in 200 major counties across 13 major grain-producing provinces, and pilot programs for full-cost insurance for the three major grain crops will be launched.
VIII. Incentive Policies for Major Grain-Producing Counties
36. Incentives for Major Grain (and Oil) Producing Counties. These include incentives for regular major grain-producing counties, super major grain-producing counties, major commercial grain-producing provinces, major seed-producing counties, and major oil-producing counties. The criteria for major counties and requirements for fund usage shall be implemented in accordance with the “Interim Measures for the Administration of Incentive Funds for Major Grain (and Oil) Producing Counties” (Cai Jian [2016] No. 866).
37. Incentives for Major Counties Exporting Pigs (Cattle and Sheep). These include incentives for major counties exporting pigs, major counties exporting cattle and sheep, and provincially coordinated incentive funds. The criteria for major counties and requirements for fund usage shall be implemented in accordance with the “Measures for the Administration of Incentive Funds for Major Counties Exporting Pigs (Cattle and Sheep)” (Cai Jian [2015] No. 778).
