BEIJING — China has approved two national agricultural high-tech industry demonstration zones to promote high-quality development of agriculture, an official said on Dec 4.

The two demonstration zones are located in the city of Jinzhong, North China's Shanxi province, and the city of Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, said Xu Nanping, vice-minister of Science and Technology, at a news conference held in Beijing.

Guided by the country's innovation-driven development strategy and the rural vitalization strategy, the demonstration zones, designed to sustain high-quality development of agriculture via science and technology, will be built into the high ground of modern agriculture with international influence in regard to innovation, talent and industry development, Xu said.

The demonstration zone in Jinzhong will focus on organic dry farming and the processing of agricultural products. It will improve the quality and efficiency of dry farming in North China, expand the production of top agricultural products and strengthen modern agricultural services.

With a focus on green smart agriculture and bio-agriculture development, the demonstration zone in Nanjing will become a platform for international cooperation in agriculture, a powerhouse of agricultural innovation in the Yangtze River Delta and an exemplary zone for technology-driven rural vitalization.

China issued a guideline regarding advancing the development of agricultural high-tech industry demonstration zones in 2018, highlighting the importance of technology in modernizing agriculture and the role of demonstration zones in spearheading the efforts.