Cooperation in agriculture is high on the agenda of the ongoing Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Johannesburg, which is being co-chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Jacob Zuma.

Grain is the ultimate support of society, goes an old Chinese saying. And true to the proverb, the Chinese government has always paid great attention to agriculture. In fact, the first official document released every year is on agricultural development and rural issues.

For more than three decades, China has managed to provide enough food to its population that accounts for 22 percent of the world's total despite having just 7 percent of world's cultivable land. China has also lifted more than 500 million people out of poverty. And the country is working to eliminate abject poverty in the country by 2020.