Qiushi Journal magazine will publish an article written by Premier Li Keqiang in its fourth edition of the year, which will appear on February 16.

The title of the article is “Reform and innovation should be the driving forces to accelerate agricultural modernization”.

The article, consisting of three parts, is an excerpt of a speech made by Premier Li at the Central Rural Work Conference, in Beijing on Dec 22, 2014.

The first part states that accelerating agricultural modernization is a major mission -due to historical factors and the current reality.

It is also a demanding task, due to the rules related to the country’s modernization process, the stability of economic growth and the long-standing, sustained development of agriculture.

The second part points out that modernization should be done “in accordance with local conditions”, and accelerating agricultural modernization should depend on reforms.

China should energetically boost industrialization of agriculture, proactively develop agricultural operations of various forms and appropriate scales, boost sustainable development in agriculture, enforce policy support and funding for agriculture - and fully utilize both domestic and international markets and resources, the Premier writes in the article.

The third part stresses the importance of fully utilizing the role played by China’s urbanization in spurring the acceleration of agricultural modernization.

China should successfully address issues regarding the “Three 100 million People” - 100 million rural residents who expect to obtain urban residency permits, 100 million shanty town dwellers who hope to be relocated to better homes, and 100 million rural residents to be urbanized in the central and western parts of the country.

The Premier also writes in the article that urban areas should drive the development of the rural areas, and industrial sectors should boost agriculture, increase the income of farmers in various ways, press ahead with the construction of new rural areas, and accelerate poverty alleviation efforts and development in rural areas.