BEIJING -- President Xi Jinping has urged supply and marketing cooperatives to act as bridges for the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the government to maintain close ties with farmers, and strive to write a new chapter in the high-quality development of the supply and marketing cooperative cause.

Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks in an instruction on the occasion of the 70th founding anniversary of the All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives.

The federation, founded in 1954, is a national economic organization responsible for organizing, coordinating and managing the operation of important agricultural means of production, as well as agricultural and sideline products.

Over the past seven decades, the country's supply and marketing cooperatives have played a positive role in serving rural and urban residents, boosting rural economy, helping eradicate absolute poverty, raising farmers' incomes and promoting rural revitalization, Xi said.

He asked Party committees and governments at all levels to further strengthen their leadership over and support for the work of supply and marketing cooperatives.

Xi urged the cooperatives to build integrated platforms that serve the production and lives of farmers and help promote the development of modern agriculture.

Premier Li Qiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, gave an instruction regarding supply and marketing cooperatives.

Li urged the cooperatives to further promote the high-quality development of agricultural supplies, distribution of agricultural products, as well as recycling and utilization of renewable resources.

A meeting was held in Beijing on Thursday to mark the federation's 70th founding anniversary.

At the meeting, Vice-Premier Liu Guozhong, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, called on supply and marketing cooperatives to help promote the integrated development of urban and rural areas and advance all-around rural revitalization.