As a large agricultural country, China should always strengthen and consolidate the foundation of its agriculture, Chinese President Jiang Zemin stressed in Beijing January 19.

Jiang, who is also general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), made the remarks at the concluding ceremony of a week-long seminar on finance and revenue, which ended in Beijing January 19.

Jiang told the seminar attended by leading officials of provinces and ministries that China's agriculture and the rural economy have entered a new phase of development and are facing some new problems.

He said it is imperative to stabilize the Party's rural policies, deepen rural reform, and comprehensively improve the quality and efficiency of agriculture and rural economy, and increase farmers' income.

The central task in rural China now is to restructure agriculture and the rural economy, Jiang pointed out.

He said that, while grasping firmly the country's grain production, it is essential to readjust the mix of agricultural produce, actively develop a diversified economy, increase rural enterprises, and develop service trades in rural areas.

At the same time, the Chinese president said, it is imperative to develop high-quality and high-yield agriculture, develop the processing of agricultural produce and improve their quality, and support the industrialization of agriculture through science and education and bringing into full play of the market mechanism.

He said it is imperative to improve agricultural and rural infrastructure, farming conditions and the ecological environment, and steadily improve comprehensive production capacity.

It is also essential to optimize the locations of the agricultural areas and develop agriculture with local characteristics, he said.

Jiang stressed that efforts must be made to restore lands to forests, grassland and lakes in order to improve the ecological environment where it is vulnerable, adding that this should be done according to local conditions.

Chinese senior leaders Li Peng, Zhu Rongji, Li Ruihuan, Wei Jianxing and Li Lanqing attended the concluding ceremony which was presided over by Hu Jintao, member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee and President of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.