The State Council approved establishing a national agricultural high-tech industry demonstration zone in Jiamusi, Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, according to an official reply released on April 28.

Covering an area of 138.78 square kilometers, the demonstration zone will fully implement innovation-driven development strategies and rural revitalization strategies, the circular said.

Focusing on modern agriculture with black-soil land at its core and taking rice as its leading industry, it will be developed into a national model area of modern agriculture for science and technology and services, a leading area for scientific and technological innovation in the rice industry, a demonstration area for sustainable development of black-soil agriculture in alpine regions, and a cluster area for high-end intelligent agricultural machinery and equipment industry, the circular said.

The circular urged exploring and demonstrating ways to speed up breakthroughs in key rice technologies in major grain producing areas of Northeast China, strengthening the protection of black-soil land and intensifying the construction of granaries, and promoting the integrated development of primary, secondary and tertiary industries, to create experiences that can be replicated and expanded.

Building the demonstration zone must strictly follow national spatial planning, practice systems for protecting cultivated land and conserving intensive land use, and implement regulations on compensation and resettlement, the circular added.