The State Council Information Office held a press conference on the morning of the 23rd to report on the agricultural and rural economic performance for the first quarter of 2026. During the conference, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Mardan Mugait reported that in recent years, various regions have intensified efforts to develop local specialty products, strengthen leading enterprises, complete industrial chains, foster new business formats, and build brands, thereby promoting vigorous growth in rural industries. The rural industrial sector maintained positive development momentum in the first quarter.

First, the agricultural product processing industry demonstrated stable progress. The value-added of large-scale agricultural and sideline food processing industries increased by 6.8% year-on-year in the first quarter. In March, the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for national key leading agricultural industrialization enterprises stood at 58.1%, remaining above the 50% expansion threshold. The index rose by 6.8 percentage points month-on-month and 3.8 percentage points year-on-year, indicating a sustained improvement in industry sentiment.

Second, rural leisure tourism flourished. Holiday and experiential economies have driven the creation of diverse new rural consumption scenarios. Activities such as experiencing intangible cultural heritage, sightseeing local customs, and visiting rural markets have become popular choices. Spring outings to the countryside for flower viewing and photography have also emerged as trending activities. An increasing number of young people are starting businesses in rural areas, with ventures like homestays and village cafes becoming new employment pathways.

Third, industrial integration continues to deepen. Support has been provided for regions to develop agricultural industrial integration projects based on their unique endowments and by pooling quality resources. Since the beginning of this year, support has been given to establish 40 new specialized industry clusters, 50 modern agricultural industrial parks, and 200 towns with strong agricultural industries. These initiatives serve as platforms and highlands for modern agricultural development. For instance, some towns have extended their industrial chains by developing daylily cultivation, fostering deep processing industries for food and cosmetics, and promoting rural leisure tourism, transforming "small daylilies" into a "major industry."

Moving forward, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will implement the following measures to promote high-quality development of rural industries: 1. Enhance quality and efficiency by establishing a tiered catalog of rural specialty industries, guiding differentiated, clustered, and branded development, and continuously upgrading industries. Efforts will focus on cultivating distinctive brands to better align with market demands and expand value-added opportunities. 2. Extend and complete industrial chains by nurturing leading enterprises and "chain master" firms. This will involve coordinated advancement of primary processing, deep processing, and comprehensive utilization of by-products to extend industrial chains, enhance value chains, and fully develop linkages from "farm to fork," "livestock to meat," and "agriculture to industry," thereby improving benefits across the entire industrial chain. 3. Expand business formats by developing agriculture's multiple functions and tapping into rural areas' diverse values. This includes promoting distinctive and diversified rural leisure tourism routes and sites, accelerating the development of new rural experiential formats, and creating new rural consumption scenarios such as harvest markets, sports events, performances, and leisure camping. These efforts will foster integration between agriculture and cultural, tourism, sports, and education industries. 4. Strengthen farmer involvement by expanding channels and methods for farmers to participate in rural industrial development. Mechanisms for the equitable sharing of value-added benefits from industrial growth will be improved, and new types of agricultural business entities will be guided to help increase farmers' incomes. Rural entrepreneurship will be vigorously promoted with enhanced policy support in funding and land use, encouraging various talents to start businesses in rural areas and drive employment and income growth for more farmers.