Nieuwsbericht25-08-2026 | 10:40
How can agriculture production remain economically viable while reducing its environmental footprint, restoring nature and sustaining rural communities? China and the Netherlands approach this question from very different starting points, but finding ways forward is important to both.
China, with a population of more than 1.4 billion, places food security, agriculture, rural development and farmers high on the national policy agenda. This is reflected in the annual No. 1 Central Document. The 2026 document identifies agricultural and rural modernization and comprehensive rural development as national priorities, while emphasizing food security, agriculture productivity and improving farmers’ livelihoods.
Although China continues to urbanize, 451 million people still lived in rural areas at the end of 2025, representing 32.1% of the population. Rural development therefore remains an important part of China’s broader development agenda.
Beeld: LVVN Team China
Rural landscapes in Nanping Fujian Province, China
Greener and more prosperous rural communities
China’s Beautiful Countryside Initiative, launched in 2013, forms part of a longer-term effort to improve rural living conditions while making agricultural development more sustainable. Key areas of this initiative include:
- Environmental improvement: Improving rural domestic sewer systems and wastewater treatment and cleaning polluted water bodies.
- Greener agriculture: Protecting agricultural soils, reducing fertilizer use, making better use of agricultural waste, and reducing environmental pressures from agricultural activities.
- Rural infrastructure: Improving transport and public services and strengthening connections between rural and urban areas.
Nature-inclusive agriculture providing options
Nature-inclusive agriculture can offer part of the solution to maintain economically viable agriculture production while reducing its environmental footprint, restoring nature and sustaining rural communities. Crop rotation, intercropping, agroforestry, reduced tillage and cover crops, soil management, precision technologies and improved water management contribute to nature and biodiversity restoration and improved soil health while maintaining productive agriculture.
Area-based approaches can complement this by recognizing differences between regions. Soil, water, nature, agricultural structure and economic opportunities vary considerably across regions. Effective solutions therefore require not only national objectives but also knowledge of local circumstances and meaningful involvement of farmers, provincial and local authorities, and nature organizations.
Learning from different approaches towards shared objectives
China and the Netherlands differ enormously in scale, agricultural structure, governance and rural development. Yet both are confronting a common policy challenge: how to combine sufficient food production with nature restoration and attractive, economically resilient rural communities.
Sharing experience about what works can help both countries develop agriculture that remains productive, provides farmers with an economically viable future and contributes to thriving rural communities in both countries.
For more information please contact pek-lvvn@minbuza.nl