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Economists and sociologists call more effective measures to
boost rural development when the annual session of China's National
People's Congress started on Friday.
Economic development in rural areas remains sluggish even though
the national economy keeps growing rapidly and the authorities
should focus more on rural problems, especially the increasing
income gap between farmers and urban populations, experts
believe.
The need to raise farmers' incomes is important and urgent,"
said Li Ranyou, deputy director of agricultural administration of
central Henan Province. "Henan, with over 70 million farmers, is
one of China's main food production areas. It's equally important
to spur economic and social improvement in the villages."
In order to earn more, many farmers had flocked to the cities
for work over the last two decades. Zhang Haiqin, a leading rural
economist, said farmers earned more than previously, but they faced
many obstacles in improving their standards of living.
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Many farmer workers faced delays in their salaries, city
authorities neglected their legal rights and interests, and they
had difficulties sending their children to good schools, Zhang
said.
In recent years, the development of the rural economy has lagged
behind that of the cities, and many farmers living conditions had
not noticeably improved, said Niu Xuezhong, a member of Henan
committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
(CPPCC).
China needed balanced development of rural and urban areas, and
farmers expected more opportunities and equal treatment, said Niu,
also the director of the committee of agricultural affairs under
Henan committee of the CPPCC.
Early this year, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of
China and the State Council issued a "No. 1 Document" on policies
to boost farmer's incomes. The draft document was put forward for
in-depth discussion at a national working conference on rural
issues last December, and the major points were released early
February.
For five successive years from 1982 and 1986, the central
leadership issued five "No. 1 Documents" on agriculture, the
countryside and farmers, which liberated Chinese farmers in
agricultural production and resulted in rapid development of the
rural economy.
China's grain output has been declining since 1999. Last year's
production was 430.65 billion kilograms, 5.8 percent less than
2002. At the same time, demand for grain totaled 485 billion
kilograms. Experts attributed the fall to many factors, including
tax burdens and lack of incentive to grow grain because of low
prices.
(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2004)
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