China to advance agricultural modernization through three key areas

China's No.1 Central Document puts agriculture, rural areas and farmers at the center of China's modernization drive, with a strong focus on food security, farmers' incomes and rural revitalization.

"Authorities will focus on three key areas to achieve that goal," said Zhu Weidong, deputy director of the Office of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission and deputy director of the Office of the Central Rural Work Leading Group. The priorities include advancing coordinated development across agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fisheries; integrating production, processing and sales; and promoting the integration of agriculture, culture and tourism.

Agriculture's role has expanded with economic and social transformation. Emerging trends such as technology-driven agriculture, green and low-carbon practices, quality-oriented production and brand building are reshaping the sector, according to Zhu.

One example of China's agricultural modernization is Suhai-1, the world's first self-propelled enclosed salmon aquaculture vessel, with a length of 249.8 meters and a width of 45 meters. Recently, it docked at Yantai Port in east China's Shandong Province to receive its third batch of fish fry and start trial processing operations.

Suhai-1 has a displacement of 132,000 tonnes, comparable to two medium-sized aircraft carriers. It features 15 aquaculture cabins with a total water volume of 83,000 cubic meters – equivalent to 33 international standard swimming pools.

The vessel is a smart deep-sea aquaculture equipment integrating breeding, harvesting and on-board processing of high-value fish species. It functions both as a mobile fish farm and a modern fishery processing plant.

Suhai-1 is equipped with a centralized automated feeding system that manages feed storage, transportation, hoisting, unpacking, conveying and distribution, all guided by intelligent feeding decisions.

Once in stable operation, Suhai-1 is expected to raise over 8,000 tonnes of salmon annually, helping boost domestic supply and demonstrate China's growing capabilities in smart deep-sea aquaculture technology.