On 12 March 2026, on the last day of so-called “Two Sessions” – the annual meetings of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) – delegates approved the China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030). The plan includes 109 major projects across six priority sectors, including five key projects and four additional programmatic initiatives focused on integrated urban-rural development and agricultural modernization.
Key projects
The 15th Five-Year Plan includes five key projects related to agriculture, food security, and rural development.
1. High-standard farmland construction project
Objective: Strengthen grain production capacity through better farmland infrastructure.
Main elements:
- Convert eligible permanent basic farmland into high-standard farmland.
- Focus especially on:
- Northeast black soil region
- major grain plains
- areas with irrigation potential
- high-yield grain regions.
- Target: upgrade farmland in 720 key grain production counties.
Key components include:
- irrigation and drainage systems
- soil quality improvement
- land consolidation
- field roads and infrastructure
Strategic role:
This project underpins the national strategy of “storing grain in land” (藏粮于地) and supports the target of increasing grain production capacity by 50 million tons.
2. Modern seed industry development project
Objective: Achieve seed security and technological independence in breeding.
Key activities:
- Build national germplasm resource protection and utilization system.
- Establish:
- seed innovation bases
- breeding centers
- seed multiplication bases.
- Improve variety testing and evaluation systems.
- Develop breakthrough varieties with:
- higher yields
- improved quality
- stronger stress resistance.
Target:
- Increase self-sufficiency of core germplasm resources to 85%.
Strategic role:
This project supports China’s goal of agricultural technological self-reliance.
3. Animal and plant epidemic prevention and control project
Objective: Strengthen biosecurity in agriculture.
Key measures:
- Improve monitoring and early warning systems for:
- crop pests
- livestock diseases.
- Improve full-chain management including:
- quarantine
- emergency response
- safe disposal of infected animals or plants.
- Strengthen monitoring of pesticides and veterinary drugs.
Strategic role:
Enhances resilience of agricultural production and reduces risks to food security.
4. Agricultural non-point source pollution control project
Objective: Reduce environmental impacts from agriculture.
Key focus areas:
- Major river basins such as:
- Yangtze River
- Yellow River.
Measures include:
- reducing excessive fertilizer and pesticide use
- improving livestock manure recycling
- increasing resource utilization of agricultural waste.
Strategic role:
Supports green agriculture and ecological protection.
5. Rural living conditions improvement project
Objective: Improve rural infrastructure and quality of life.
Main investments target:
- village roads
- water supply and drainage
- toilet modernization
- waste and sewage treatment
- elderly care facilities.
This project forms part of the broader “rural construction action” to improve public services and living environments in villages.
Besides the explicit projects, the plan includes several large policy programs that function similarly to national projects:
1. Grain production capacity increase program
- Increase grain capacity by 50 million tons.
2. Agricultural machinery and equipment development
- Improve mechanization and agricultural machinery innovation.
3. Diversified food supply system program
- Expand production of:
- livestock
- dairy
- aquaculture
- forest foods
- new proteins.
4. Rural construction action
- County-level infrastructure planning
- rural public services
- rural environmental improvement.
Overall structure of agricultural projects in the plan
The projects follow five strategic pillars:
- Land productivity
– high-standard farmland construction - Technology and innovation
– seed industry development - Biosecurity
– animal and plant disease control - Green agriculture
– non-point pollution control - Rural revitalization
– rural infrastructure and living conditions
