Zhanjiang Mayor Wang Zhongbing toured some of the city's planting bases on Feb 15 to learn about current agriculture developments, whereby improvements in scale, processing and technology were urged.

Zhanjiang, a coastal city in Guangdong province, enjoys a favorable climate and fertile soil for growing crops. Agriculture development is high on the city's agenda, with equipment and farming systems under constant improvement.

Zhanjiang Mayor Wang Zhongbing leads a group inspection in the Leizhou Peninsula on Feb 15. [Photo by Wu Wenkang/Zhanjiang.gov.cn]

Wang listened to issues arising from developments at the cultivation bases of key enterprises, including Guangdong Guirong Agricultural Science and Technology and Guangdong Hengfu Group Sugar Industry Co.

Home to 146 municipal-level leading enterprises, the city is still thought to have a lot of room for improvement. According to Wang, these firms are not so competitive and far from the high levels. The processing capacity and added value are still kept down by a narrow industry chain.

Wang said that cooperatives and family farm corporations should increase their presence and grow together with expanding leading enterprises. More young entrepreneurs are encouraged to join the industry to accelerate mechanized planting and production.

The modern agriculture zone in the Leizhou Peninsula. [Photo/zjphoto.yinsha.com]

At the modern agriculture zone of the Leizhou Peninsula, Wang claimed that more agri-parks, adopting advanced technology integrating finance and tourism, should be built.

Last year Zhanjiang earned a top place among Guangdong cities for its large economic agriculture aggregate with steady performance. The city's agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishing industries produced a total of more than 80 billion yuan ($11.7 billion), a growth of 4 percent. The Development Planning of Modern Agriculture for the Leizhou Peninsula of Guangdong (2016-20) continuess to provide a great impetus for supply-side reforms and structural adjustments in the agriculture industry.