Inner Mongolia Radio and Television Station:

When speaking about Inner Mongolia, many will think of the poetic line: "When the grass is bent low by the blowing wind, the sheep and cattle come into sight." As a major agricultural and animal husbandry region, how will Inner Mongolia promote the modernization and high-quality development of the two sectors? Thank you.

Wang Lixia:

I would like to invite Mr. Gong to answer this question.

Gong Mingzhu:

Thank you for your question. As an important region for agricultural and livestock product production in China, Inner Mongolia has achieved 20 consecutive years of bumper grain harvests and 19 consecutive years of stable livestock production. We are now planning to leverage our unique advantages of a good ecological environment and rich agricultural and animal husbandry resources, so as to promote Inner Mongolia's transformation from a large producer of agricultural and livestock products to a strong competitor in agricultural and animal husbandry. In simple terms, we aim to achieve improvements in three aspects.

First, we aim to lay a more solid foundation for the development of modern agriculture and animal husbandry. Focusing on arable land, we will strengthen agricultural infrastructure construction, especially by developing high quality and high-standard farmland. We will convert small, scattered plots of land and steep slopes, which are unsuitable for cultivation, into large, contiguous fields suitable for mechanized farming and capable of stable high yields. Last year, two-thirds of our grain production came from 52.37 million mu of high-standard farmland. This year, we plan to develop an additional 8.5 million mu of high-standard farmland. At the same time, we will vigorously improve the technological level of agriculture and animal husbandry, especially in the seed industry, which is crucial for the high-quality development of the two sectors. We will implement projects to cultivate high-quality and distinctive varieties of corn, potatoes and sunflowers, and carry out joint research on dairy cattle breeding to create first-class sources for milk, seed and forage.

Second, we aim to ensure a more abundant supply of agricultural and livestock products. Last year, Inner Mongolia's total grain output reached 79.16 billion jin (39.58 billion kilograms). This year, we will carry out actions to increase per-unit yields. In particular, we will implement the national project to increase the per-unit yields of corn and soybeans, and build demonstration areas of 4.05 million mu, with the aim to boost total grain output to 80 billion jin this year. We will also vigorously develop intensive processing of agricultural and livestock products. We will not only focus on intensive processing of grains, meat and milk, but also make use of rice husks, bran, and fruit and vegetable peels and pomaces. At the same time, we will also support and encourage enterprises in Inner Mongolia to develop cold chain warehouses in major consumption areas like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta, so as to provide more and better milk, meat and grain to the whole country.

Third, we aim to make ecological protection even more prominent in agriculture and animal husbandry. The water and soil in the agricultural and pastoral areas of Inner Mongolia are clean. These are our greatest assets in production and competition, and we must do everything possible to protect them. In terms of agriculture, we will advance water-saving and efficiency-increasing projects. Next year, we aim to expand the area of efficient water-saving irrigation from the current 34.03 million mu to 38 million mu, which would save over 3.5 billion cubic meters of water annually. Additionally, we will implement actions to reduce the amounts of fertilizers and pesticides and increase their efficiency, so that the use of pesticides and fertilizers steadily decreases. In terms of animal husbandry, we will mainly promote the transformation and upgrading of grassland animal husbandry, increase the proportion of modern animal husbandry, and address the issue of overgrazing on grasslands. This will achieve a win-win situation where both the development of animal husbandry and the protection of grasslands are realized. Thank you. 

Chengdu.cn:

My question is: Inner Mongolia has announced plans to advance scientific and technological innovation with extraordinary efforts, breaking the mold to catch up in innovation-driven development. Which areas will be given priority to advance industrial upgrading through scientific and technological innovation? Thank you.

Wang Lixia:

Mr. Huang Zhiqiang will answer this question. 

Huang Zhiqiang:

Thank you for your question. Inner Mongolia attaches great importance to scientific and technological innovation and the development of new quality productive forces. We are implementing a project to make scientific and technological breakthroughs. Our efforts are focused on areas with resources, local features, and advantages, striving to achieve "leading from the start" in specific areas and leveraging these areas to drive scientific, technological and industrial development.

We have advanced innovation with a focus on resources. For example, Inner Mongolia leads the world in terms of both reserves and the quality of rare earth resources. We have established the most complete industrial chain in China. With the goal of building the largest rare earth new material base, we have developed the resources into materials, abandoned the traditional simple mode of "mining rare earths and then selling them," and focused on five major areas — permanent magnet, hydrogen storage, catalytic materials, polishing materials, and alloys — and improved resource use efficiency and the degree of intensive processing in the industry. This promotes the transition from "world-class reserves" to a "world-class industry." Aiming to build the world's leading rare earth application base, we have worked to put materials into the application, created a national innovation center for rare earth materials, accelerated efforts to make breakthroughs in cutting-edge technology, and expanded the applications of rare earths, continuing to improve the comprehensive added value of rare earth products.

We have advanced innovation with a focus on our local features. For example, Inner Mongolia is a leading provincial region in animal husbandry, and the dairy industry is our distinctive local industry. Last year, the only national technology innovation center for the dairy industry in China was officially put into operation, gathering 10 academicians, over 100 industry experts, and an innovation team of over 5,000 people. We have structured our innovation efforts around the existing industrial chain, planning 20 research areas and 76 research directions. Our focus is on five strategic goals: Chinese cattle, Chinese breeding methods, Chinese raw materials, Chinese equipment, and Chinese standards.

We have advanced innovation with a focus on our advantages. For example, Inner Mongolia has obvious advantages in developing new energy. In terms of wind and solar power, we have continued to launch new products to achieve iterative upgrades. Onshore wind power units with the largest impeller diameter and the highest single-unit capacity in the world have been produced. The impeller diameter of these units is 214 meters, which is as tall as a 70-story building. Each unit has a maximum power output of 11 megawatts and can generate 10,000 kilowatt-hours of green electricity per hour, which is enough to meet the annual electricity needs of 12 families. To enhance the power grid's capability to accommodate a high proportion of new energy power, we have built the Daqingshan Laboratory for a demonstration of flexible and intelligent power grid integration. This project explores the path for constructing a new power system nationwide. In terms of hydrogen storage, we have made every effort to support the development of all kinds of hydrogen production and storage technologies in Inner Mongolia. By 2025, the green hydrogen production capacity will reach 850,000 tons and the installed capacity for energy storage will exceed 20 million kilowatts. Inner Mongolia, already a leading provincial region in new energy, will also become a leader in green hydrogen and energy storage.

Thank you!