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Farmers' per capita income hits $735

(China Daily/Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-12-29 07:49

The per capita annual net income of Chinese farmers rose to a high of 5,000 yuan ($735) this year, up more than 6 percent from a year ago, a rural work meeting revealed yesterday.

The government will step up efforts to stimulate rural consumption and raise rural living standards to promote economic growth and ensure social stability, said a statement released at the conclusion of the Central Conference on Rural Work.

"The remarkable achievement of the nation's rural development had consolidated the basis for the economic recovery, and contributed to social harmony and stability," said the statement.

The government would continue to improve farmers' lives as a crucial plank in its efforts to rebalance income distribution, said the statement.

It would keep stimulating rural consumption, which was significant to drive domestic demand, according to the two-day meeting that laid out work for next year's agricultural and rural development.

"Despite the impacts of the economic downturn and the severe drought that hit Central and North China early this year, rural development was sound and maintaining good momentum," said the statement.

The statement also described the agriculture and rural development situation as grim, as new problems continued to emerge, and some were unpredictable, adding the work for 2010 would be "complicated" and "difficult".

Great effort is needed to better coordinate urban and rural development, and guide more resources to the vast countryside, as well as agriculture, the foundation of the national economy, the statement said.

The government would continue to push forward urbanization to allow rural residents to enjoy equal public service with urban dwellers.

Although rural residents comprise more than 70 percent of China's population, public resources conventionally lean to the better-developed urban areas. That leaves a widening gap between the two, which the government has vowed to solve.

The government will make all efforts to stabilize grain production, and keep prices of farm produce at a reasonable level. Technology should play a bigger role in expanding grain output, said the statement.

It is also agreed that efforts would be made to help rural residents find jobs and step up rural infrastructure construction.