BEIJING — China intends to stabilize its annual grain output at over 600 billion kg by 2020 to ensure basic self-sufficiency in grains and absolute ration security, according to a report from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The country will also make sustained efforts to secure the total area of permanent basic farmland above or at 1.546 billion mu (about 103 million hectares) and the sown area of grains at over 1.65 billion mu, said the report, titled China's Progress Report on Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2019).

China has made positive progress towards the relevant sustainable development goal in the agricultural field, with stable grain output, steadily improving quality and safety of farm produce, accelerated green development and better protection and utilization of agricultural species, the report noted.

Since 2015, the country's annual grain output has remained stable at more than 650 billion kg for four consecutive years, with the per capita share of grain exceeding 450 kg, according to the report.

It acknowledged multiple challenges on China's way to sustainable agricultural development, noting a large population with per capita natural resources for agriculture below world averages.

The country's main tasks are to ensure effective supply of food, promote balanced nutrition development, and plan as a whole and coordinate production and consumption, the report said.

It outlined several priorities in future policies, including pursuing the strategy of reserving grain production capacity by land rotation and through new technologies, pushing forward the rural collective property rights system reform, and further promoting the green development of agriculture and strengthening international cooperation in agricultural development.