The development assignments for the agriculture during the tenth five-year plan are as follows: adjusting and optimizing the production structure of agriculture and promoting an overall development of cultivation and breeding; improving the products' quality standards entirely and enhancing their competitiveness in the market; optimizing the regional arrangements and giving full play of the regional comparative advantages; developing the processing industry of agricultural products energetically and increasing the follow-up benefits; keeping up improving the standards of township businesses' development and the town-constructing, and transferring the surplus labor force in the countryside gradually; promoting the reform of agricultural cultivation and its development and showing a good example for the agricultural modernization of Chinese agriculture.

(2) Development objectives

By 2005, the proportion of the planting industry in the gross output of agriculture should be adjusted from 55.7% in 2000 to 50%. Ensuring the national cultivated area not to be lower than 0.128 billion hectares and the total cultivated area for foodstuffs to be preserved above 0.107 billion hectares. The population of china will rise to 1.366 billion by 2005, by the calculation base on a natural growth rate under 13¡ë. With the primary estimation, the major agricultural products' output capability will climb up to 0.53 to 0.54 billion tons or so and the cultivated area won't be under 0.107 billion hectares. The output of cotton will be 4.5 million tons and its cultivated area will be within 4.6667 million hectares. The output of oil plants will be about 30 million tons and their cultivated area will be within 16.6667 million hectares. The output of sugar plants will be 105 million tons and their cultivated area will be within 2 million hectares. The production of vegetables and fruits should focus on the quality improvement according to the requirements of market and living standards' improvement.

(3) The development pivots and deployment

a. Grain plants
-Rough rice: the cultivated area of rough rice should be stabilized at 30.6667 million hectares. According to the guideline, the early rice's cultivated area should be decreased and the semilate and ratooning ones' should be increased, maintaining that of late rice. Try to increase the high-grade proportion of the early rice from 50% to more than 70%.

-Wheat: the cultivated area of wheat should be controlled at about 28.6667 million hectares. Stabilizing the cultivated area in regions of Huanghe, Huanghe, Haihe and Northwest and decrease the cultivated area of wheat in the southern regions and inadvisable regions in Northeast. Along with the short supply of high-quality wheat, the pivots should be as follows: eliminate the inferior breeds of the Southern winter wheat and Northeastern spring wheat; shooting at developing wheat production as the raw material of bread, steamed bread, and noodle in North china, as the raw material of cookies and cakes in JiangHuai region and as the raw material of beer in Northwest, and set up production bases for the high-quality wheat. By 2005, the cultivated area for the special use of high-quality wheat will be expanded to about 6.6667 million hectares and realize the essential self-support of domestic high-quality wheat.

-Corn: the cultivated area should be controlled at about 23.3333 million hectares. For the purpose of adapting to the development of corn-processing, the corns with high-quality of nutrition, or with high proportion of amylum or oil should be promoted in some concentrated regions to promote the value-added process of corn.

-Soybean: the cultivated area of soybean will be resumed to more than 8.6667 million hectares. Carrying out the Plan of Rotation of Soybean and Corn in Northeast and increasing the cultivated area by 0.6667 million hectares in northeast region, by means of decreasing the corn cultivated area and reforming the rotation system. Upgrading the breeds and developing the production of high-oil and high-protein soybean to meet the demand for different quality from different users.

-Potato: the cultivated area of potato will be stabilized at about 10.6667 million hectares. The emphases are to develop the processing kind of potatoes and promote the poison-off technology and increase the yield of per unit of field and the quality.

-Others: developing the production of traditional well-known, unusual and high-quality coarse cereals and soybeans in the regions of Northeast, Northwest and North China. Setting up producing and procession bases for special type of coarse cereals and soybeans and establishing regional pillar industry.

b. Economic crops
-Cotton: the cultivated area of cotton should be stabilized at about 4.3333 million hectares. The emphases are to optimize the field structure, adjust the breeds structure, improve the quality standards and adapt to the development needs of the cotton spinning industry.

-Oil plants: increasing the gross output and decreasing the imports of oil plants and edible oil gradually. By 2005, the cultivated area of oil plants will be increased by about 16.6667 million hectares. Expanding the cultivated area of cole in the Changjiang river valley by 1.6667 million hectares. Enhancing the overall utilization and development of cole seeds and construct the exporting base for peanuts. Promoting the industrialization and improving the overall economic benefits.

-Sugar plants: the cultivated area of sugar plants should be stabilized at about 1.8 million hectares. The relevant regional arrangement should adapt to the arrangement adjustments of the sugar-refinery factories. Enhancing the promotion of good breeds and trying hard to improve the production efficiency.

-Tea leaf: the cultivated area of tea leaf should be stabilized at 1.0667 million hectares. Giving up the old tea fields with low yield and developing the ones with fine clonal breeds, which will account for more than 25% of the total fields. Basing upon the domestic market and exploiting the international one. Promoting the scale-up and standards-up of the famous and fine-quality teas. Attaching great importance to the problem of pesticide residue and preventing the use of highly poisonous pesticide. Popularizing the biologic prevention and cure technologies and developing the production of nonpolluting teas, healthy and organic teas.

-Silkworm cocoon: the cultivated area of mulberry will be stabilized at 0.8 million hectares. Improving the silkworm's quality and adjusting the sericiculture's overall arrangement. Supporting the construction of the important sericiculture fields with good management and fine-quality silkworms and eliminating the ones with inferior silkworms and severe microsporidiosis diseases. Cutting down the feeding capacity of the summer and early autumn cocoons and stabilizing the proportion of spring and middle autumn cocoons.

-Flax plants: expanding the cultivated area of flax plants steadily to meet the development of hemp spinning. Optimizing the regional arrangements and keeping the flax fields with high output and developing the highly efficient fields whilst eliminating the inferior ones. Realizing the scale planting step by step. Popularizing the fine-quality seeds and developing their new purposes whilst improving the yield of per unit area, quality and efficiency.
-Vegetable: the cultivated area of vegetables will be stabilized at about 13.3333 million hectares. Enhancing the production of nonpolluting vegetables and edible appressorium. Improving the vegetables' quality and enhancing the capability of balanced supply in the domestic market. The coastal regions and regions along frontiers should aim at development of the market in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and the globe, taking advantage of regions, economy, technology and labor force.

-Fruit: the cultivated area of fruits will be controlled at about 8.6667 million hectares. Focusing on the development of famous, fine-quality and new fruits and adjusting the output schedules through utilizing the regional advantage. The apple's production should be stabilized at Loess Plateau, northwest of china. The production of mandarin orange should be focused on the development of orange and stabilization of pomelo's output, with the proportion of orange rising from 30% to 40%. Making reformation to the existing breeds of pear. Taking apple, orange and pear as the pivots, carrying out the plan of inoculation to improve the products' quality and the proportion of processing type of fruits.

-Flower: stabilizing the cultivated area of flowers and improving the breeds and quality to form the development pattern with specialization, large-sized and industrialization and enhancing the exporting capability.

-Others: keeping up controlling over the cultivated area of tobacco leaf according to the plan and developing the production of high quality leaf. Developing the production of raw materials for the Chinese traditional medicines.

(4) The major measures

a. Enhancing input for agriculture and improve the investment structure.
-Attaching importance to the high-quality products and encouraging export whilst promote the construction of production base.

-Enhancing the three basic systematic establishment of the planting industry, involving the system of technology promotion, products' market system and the supervision and examination system for the quality of agricultural products.

-Focusing on the construction of three projects, stated as Seeds, Plant Protection and Fertile soil.

-Questing and innovating, and carrying out the demonstrating projects of the planting industry.

b. Depending on the science and technological advancement and improving the relevant standards.
-The quality-optimized technologies
-The technologies for the cost-saving and efficiency
-The technologies for sustainable development
-The anti-disaster and lessening disaster technologies

c. Sticking to stabilizing and improving the fundamental management system in the countryside and protecting the farmers' enthusiasm in the production.

2. The development of agriculture

Since the reforming and opening up, the agricultural production has a quite rapid and comprehensive development. The outputs of the major agricultural products are growing continuously and steadily and the production structure of agriculture has experienced obvious transitions with some new characteristics. At present, the supply of agriculture has transformed from the former longstanding shortage to a situation with equilibrium on the whole and some abundant years. As for the food supply, the ratio of self-sufficiency has changed from 98.1% in 1980s to 99.6% in 1990s. As for the cotton supply, it's output is growing steadily, too, by means of increasing the purchasing price sharply and expanding the cultivated area in Xinjiang Province. The output of fruits and vegetables are growing year by year and the market equilibrium has come into being on the whole, with a good development of exporting. The infrastructure constructions have been enhanced and the overall production capability of agriculture is keeping up improving. A number of new food crops, oil plants and economic crops have been introduced in, which promote the development of agriculture effectively.

After several years' development, between the year of 1995 and 2000, the average annual output of food crops is 496.31 million tons, and the cotton's is 4.31 million tons, oil plants' is 24.47 million tons and sugar plants' is 87.01 million tons. There are relatively high growths in the production of fruits, vegetables, tealeaves and silkworm cocoons too.
In 2002, the output of grain, oil plants, cotton, sugar plants, bright tobacco, tea and fruits reached 457.11 million tons up 1%, 29 million tons up 1.2%, 4.92 million tons down 7.5%, 101.51 million tons up 17.3%, 2.13 million tons up 3.9%, 0.74 million tons up 5.7% and 68.09 million tons up 2.3% respectively over the previous year. The planted area of grain and cotton amounted to 103.99 million hectare and 4.18 million hectare, down 2.09 million hectare and 0.63 million hectare respectively over the previous year. The planted area of oil plants, sugar plants and vegetables reached 14.87 million hectare up 0.24, 1.8 million hectare up 0.15 and 17.28 million hectare up 0.88 respectively over the previous year.

Presently, the labor productivity and the added value of the Chinese agriculture are still too low. The circulation system's reform and the establishment of market economy are falling behind. The products' quality and the overall benefits of agriculture aren't favorable and the overall standards of the agricultural technologies are relatively low. Along with the gradual improvement of the socialistic market economy and china's accession to the WTO, the Chinese economy will connect directly with the world economy, which provide opportunities for the development of Chinese agriculture, and the Chinese agriculture will develop steadily and consistently in the future.