BEIJING -- China's central government pledged on Friday to support the northeastern region by boosting its development of modern agriculture.

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A guideline, mapped out by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Agriculture, was publicized by the General Office of the State Council, or cabinet, on the central government’s official website www.gov.cn.

The guideline expects the region to harvest more than 100 million tons of grain annually by 2015.

Northeastern China should catch up with developed countries in terms of land output rates and labor production rates, according to the guideline.

The northeastern region in the guideline refers to Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang provinces and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.