International

Efforts aim for healthy grain harvest

China will step up efforts to coordinate agricultural production and COVID-19 epidemic prevention, stabilizing economic development in agriculture and rural areas amid rising uncertainties in the overall economy, a senior official with the agriculture ministry said recently.

Vice-Minister Deng Xiaogang said that annual grain output above 650 million metric tons is the bottom line, and spring sowing under epidemic prevention and control measures is crucial for the country’s summer harvest－the first battle for the annual grain harvest.

Affected by rare autumn floods in five provinces last year, the late-sowing area of winter wheat reached 7.3 million hectares, resulting in a complicated seeding situation that hasn’t happened in many years.

In addition, the prices of agricultural materials such as pesticides have continued to rise and many places are seeing flare-ups of domestic cases. “The harvest of summer grain has encountered unprecedented pressure,” Deng said.

The central government has invested a record 6 billion yuan ($900 million) to support summer grain production, including 1.6 billion yuan to subsidize the robust growth of wheat. A one-time subsidy of 20 billion yuan has been distributed to farmers to alleviate the impact of rising agricultural material prices, he added.

The ministry has launched campaigns to survey the seedling growth of each county, and has dispatched 100 officials and 200 technicians nationwide to instruct field management in accordance with emergency plans and guidelines.

As the transportation of agricultural products was affected by the local epidemic outbreaks, “the ministry has opened a hotline and online message platforms to solve the difficulties encountered by farmers in spring sowing.”

At present, the supply of seeds, fertilizers and pesticides is generally guaranteed. The production of summer grain is better than expected. Spring sowing is progressing smoothly and faster than last year, with more than 40 percent of the crops having been planted, Deng said.

He stressed that increasing farmers’ incomes is an essential task of the agricultural sector. “An important measure to test the achievement of rural work is to check whether farmers’ pockets are bulging,” he said.

In the first quarter of this year, farmers’ incomes increased by 6.3 percent, 2.1 percentage points faster than their urban counterparts. However, farmers met challenges in going out to work due to the spread of the epidemic.

“We must spare no effort to maintain the increase of farmers’ incomes by developing rural industries, stabilizing employment, promoting entrepreneurship and investing in business,” Deng said.

Local authorities will expand the agricultural processing industry, gradually restore rural tourism, and focus on developing characteristic industries in areas that have shaken off poverty.

As wages account for more than 40 percent of farmers’ total income, modern agricultural industrial parks should be built to ensure farmers employment in nearby areas.

Regional cooperative projects and enterprises are expected to play roles in ensuring that more than 30 million migrant workers in once poverty-stricken areas get jobs.

The country will keep promoting rural entrepreneurship to further drive employment and increase farmers’ incomes.

“A rural start-up project can provide stable jobs for six to seven farmers and flexible employment for 17 people on average,” Deng said.

The ministry will continue to optimize the rural business environment, guide commercial capital to flow to the countryside and help farmers become prosperous together, he added.

International

Chinese Government Offers Scholarships For 2025

The Government of China is providing full scholarships to Barbadian students to pursue undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in that country, for the academic year commencing September 2025.

To be eligible for a scholarship, applicants must be citizens of Barbados in good health; high school graduates under the age of 45 when applying for general programmes; be 25 years old if pursuing undergraduate studies, and under 35 years old if pursuing a master’s degree – applicants must already possess a bachelor’s degree and graduated with at least Lower Second Class Honours.

Applicants must also be under age 40 if pursuing a doctoral degree and must have a master’s degree, or hold a master’s degree or that of an Associate Professor (or above) and be under age 50 when applying for senior scholarship programmes. Applications, procedures, and the relevant rules are available from www.campuschina.org or www.csc.edu.cn/studyinchina.

For more information on the scholarships for 2025, interested persons should contact the Tertiary Section of the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training at 535-0863, or visit www.mes.gov.bb. The deadline for the submission of applications is Friday, January 17, 2025. (PR/GIS)

International

People Of African Descent Take Centre Stage At UN

The start of the Second Decade for People of African Descent was proclaimed as January 1, 2025, by the United Nations General Assembly, yesterday.

The theme of the Second Decade is “People of African descent: Recognition, Justice and Development”.

The decade will mobilise United Nations agencies and the international community more broadly to focus on the challenges faced by people of African descent around the world and to promote the respect, protection, and fulfilment of all of their human rights and fundamental freedoms.

During the course of the first decade, which ran from 2015 to 2024, the UN and its member states took a number of steps to address the challenges faced and promote the contribution of people of African descent around the world.

At the national level, Barbados has been pursuing reparatory justice through the work of Special Envoy Trevor Prescod. The University of the West Indies has established a partnership with the University of Glasgow that has led to the creation of a joint master’s programme on reparatory justice.

At the regional level, CARICOM has been pursuing reparatory justice through its reparations commission, chaired by Sir Hilary Beckles and through the Prime Ministerial sub-committee on reparations chaired by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley.

Upon the adoption of the resolution by the UN General Assembly, Barbados’ Ambassador to the UN, François Jackman, noted: “The facts surrounding the challenges faced by people and societies of African descent are increasingly well-known and well-understood – in part due to the higher profile these issues have assumed as a result of the proclamation of the First Decade.

“This welcome proclamation of a second decade will, however, inevitably lead to disappointment if we do not provide it and its programme of activities with the support that is required. It will therefore be essential for the international community to mobilise the necessary human and financial resources to realise the promise of this second decade.” (PR/GIS)

International

PRESIDENT XI JINPING CALLS FOR AN OPEN WORLD ECONOMY

During meeting with the leaders of major international economic organizations, President Xi Jinping noted that as each economy faces its own set of challenges, it is imperative to build an open world economy through cooperation, drive development through innovation, seize the important opportunities of the digital economy, artificial intelligence and low-carbon technology, foster new sources of economic growth, and support the cross-border flow of knowledge, technology and talent. Building “small yard with high fences,” decoupling and disrupting supply chains bring harm to others without benefiting oneself. China always believes that the world does well when China does well; and when the world does well, China will do even better. For countries, economic interdependence should be seen as a good thing that enables all to draw on each other’s strengths for mutual benefit and win-win results. It should not be taken as a risk.