China sees huge potential in agriculture investment

BEIJING - China's agriculture sector is attracting growing investment amid government efforts to push integrated development in rural areas, official data showed on Thursday.

In the first three quarters, China's agriculture investment surged 21.8 percent year on year, outperforming the 8.2-percent gain in overall fixed asset investment, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

Most of the investment is from private investors.

NDRC official Wu Xiao attributed the rapid growth to government efforts to drive new types of agriculture-related businesses in rural regions.

China released a set of guidelines last week encouraging people to explore business opportunities in the countryside.

By rolling out a number of new support policies, the government expects them to inject new energy into the rural economy and increase farmers' incomes by introducing modern technology, systems and management.

New agribusinesses, including large-scale farming, farm produce processing, leisure agriculture, rural tourism, as well as producer and consumer services, are priorities of the policy support measures.