Xi Jinping calls for grain self-sufficiency during Hainan visit

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for working towards grain self-sufficiency and advancing the country's seed sector during a visit to south China's Hainan Province on Sunday.

Talking to staff members at a seed laboratory in Sanya City, Xi said that "only by holding the seeds tightly in our own hands" can China stabilize its "rice bowl" and achieve food security.

"To ensure that China's seed resources are self-supporting and under better control, self-reliance must be achieved in seed technology," he said.

However, he acknowledged that the process would take time. "It takes 10 years to sharpen a sword," the president, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, quoted the famous Chinese saying.

He called on agricultural experts to carry forward the spirit of elder generation of agronomists, including Yuan Longping (1930-2021), who was known for developing the first hybrid rice varieties in the 1970s and staving off hunger for millions.

The technological breakthrough call is part of the country's drive to push forward rural vitalization.

In the newly-unveiled "No. 1 Central Document," the first policy statement released by China's central authorities this year, the country has outlined seed industry development as one of its policy priorities, with specific moves such as implementing an action plan on seed industry, promoting germplasm collection and enhancing intellectual property protection in the sector.

（CGTN）