Ministry of Agriculture

The Ministry of Agriculture (农业部) is an office of the State Council in charge of rural areas and rural economic development. Its major responsibilities are to study and formulate development strategies, long- and medium-term development plans for agriculture and rural economy and organize the implementation of such strategies and plans, study and draw up industrial policies for agriculture, take care of the drafting of various agricultural laws and regulations, study and propose opinions on deepening economic restructuring of the rural economy; represent the state to exercise the rights of inspection, administration of the fishery industry and the supervision and management of fishing harbors; draft laws and regulations on animal and plant disease prevention and inspection, organize and supervise disease prevention and inspection of animals and plants in the country, conduct inter-governmental matters concerning agriculture, organize international economic and technological exchange and cooperation, and undertake the routine work of the State Council's Leading Group for Poverty Relief and Development.

The ministry consists of 16 departments: the general affairs office, labor and personnel department, industrial policy and regulation department, rural economic structure and operation department, market and economic information department, development planning department, finance department, international cooperation department, science, technology and education department, plant cultivation industry department, agricultural mechanization department, animal husbandry and veterinary bureau, agricultural reclamation bureau, rural enterprise bureau, fishery bureau, and office of the State Council's Leading Group for Poverty Relief and Development.