Starting on Jan 1, 2017, all approval powers of the State Agriculture Comprehensive Development Office, a department of the Ministry of Finance, will be delegated to provincial levels, according to a regulation on the management of agricultural funds and projects revised by the ministry.

The new version stresses transformation of agricultural development modes, integrated development of primary, secondary and tertiary industries in rural areas, and sustainable development of agriculture and agriculture modernization.

Supervision and oversight were added to the new rules, which say that inspection of land management projects should be undertaken by related authorities at provincial or city levels, while management of industrialization development projects can be delegated to institutions at county level.

The new rules also say the State Agriculture Comprehensive Development Office will be in charge of laying out key tasks for the next year and creating support policies.

Central finance and local finance will be separated for allocating agricultural funds, and the proportion of finance investment at provincial level, self-raised funds, and funds for land management projects and industrialization development projects will no longer be set. Allocation of central finance capital will be based on fundamental resources, work performance, and other related factors, said the new regulation.

The issue of sustainable development in agriculture was also added to the new rules. Regions with strong capacity for resources and environment and recycling should be developed with emphasis; areas with limited capacity should be developed reasonably, and the development of regions with weak ecological environment should be limited and even protected, according to the new regulation.