On Thursday, top leader Xi Jinping presided over a session of the Communist Party of China Central Committee's Political Bureau on improving the mechanisms and institutions for the integrated development of urban and rural areas. During the session, Xi said China must strive to make breakthroughs on coordinated development between urban and rural areas to enable farmers to participate in the country's development on an equal footing and share the fruits of economic growth.

Xi said to meet the needs of China's future development, the country should regard industry nurturing agriculture and cities supporting countryside as long-term guiding principles and the government will improve the policies that enrich and benefit farmers and agriculture in order to form a new pattern of integrated urban-rural development.

The most difficult task for China in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects lies in its vast rural areas, and Xi urged advancing agricultural modernization, strengthening agriculture and ensuring food security and farmers' income growth.

According to government data, the mainland's rural population was 618.7 million at the end of 2014, accounting for 45.2 percent of the total population.