Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has extended festive greetings and sincere regards on behalf of the CPC Central Committee to farmers and people working on agricultural and rural fronts ahead of the sixth Chinese farmers' harvest festival, which falls on September 23.

Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, stressed adhering to the goal of building a strong agricultural country and building a beautiful and harmonious countryside that is desirable to live and work in.  

Having overcome the impact of rare continuous rain in parts of eastern China, the severe floods in parts of northern and northeastern China and droughts in parts of the northwestern region, China is expecting another bumper harvest this year, Xi said. 

The harvest will provide the strong underpinnings for boosting the sustained recovery of the economy, facilitate building of a new development paradigm and promote high-quality development, Xi added.

Party committees and governments at all levels must implement the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee, adhere to the goal of building a strong agriculture and keep the fundamentals of the agricultural sector stable, Xi said.

Xi also urged solid efforts to do a good job on work concerning agriculture, rural areas and farmers in the new era, advance progress in rural revitalization in a comprehensive way and quicken the pace of agricultural and rural modernization.

Increasing farmers' income should be the central task of the work concerning agriculture, rural areas and farmers and every endeavor should be made to broaden the channels for farmers to increase their incomes, so as to build a beautiful and harmonious countryside that is desirable for farmers to live and work in, Xi said.

(Cover: Rice fields in Ding'an County of Hainan Province, China, September 22, 2023. /CFP)