Move aimed at improvingfood security and supplies. Zhao Yimeng reports.

Increasing subsidies to agricultural areas is an essential measure to ensure the supply of produce and secure national food security, said Chen Mengshan, a political adviser for the agricultural sector, during this year's session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, which concluded on March 10.

When Premier Li Keqiang delivered the Government Work Report during the opening of the fifth session of the 13th National People's Congress earlier this month, he said that to help boost agricultural production, the government issued onetime subsidies to grain growers totaling 20 billion yuan ($3 billion) last year, and also raised the minimum prices paid for rice and wheat to appropriate levels.

Chen, a member of the CPPCC National Committee and former Party secretary of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said policies should be formulated to support farmers, not only by raising purchasing prices but also by increasing the subsidies transferred from the central government to local authorities.