The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee held a plenary meeting in Beijing on Jan 15. 

The meeting, attended by Yang Chuantang and Gu Shengzu, both vice-chairmen of the CPPCC National Committee, summarized the work done by the agriculture and rural affairs committee in 2020 and arranged its work for 2021. 

Yang stressed that in 2020 the committee focused on the key tasks of rural revitalization and poverty alleviation and coordinated pandemic prevention and performance of its duties, yielding remarkable high-quality results. 

He pointed out that 2021 is the beginning of both China's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) and a new journey of fully building a modern socialist China, and also marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. 

The committee should prioritize advancing the implementation of the 14th Five-Year Plan and contributing to the development of agriculture and rural areas, all-round rural vitalization and the modernization of the agricultural sector, he said. 

Yang also emphasized the importance of strengthening the functions of the CPPCC as a special consultative institution and CPPCC members' awareness of their responsibilities. 

In his speech, Gu called on committee members to focus on the important tasks related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers, improve the CPPCC as a special consultation institution, and devote their wisdom and strength to all-round rural vitalization. 

During the meeting, the committee members put forward suggestions on building a long-term mechanism for consolidating the outcomes of poverty alleviation, effectively linking poverty alleviation with rural vitalization, safeguarding food security, and advancing technological innovation in China's seed industry.