Central China's
Henan Province has mapped out a blueprint to accelerate
infrastructure construction in rural areas in a bid to promote
local agricultural development.
In 2006, the province will invest a total of 7.5 billion yuan
(about US$937.5 million) on road construction, water supply and the
development of marsh gas as new energy sources in its rural
areas.
According to statistics of the Henan provincial government, 6.5
billion yuan will be invested in the province's roads. It plans to
link 10,000 villages across the province with a road networking
stretching 19,000 kilometers.
Meanwhile, Henan will use 540 million yuan to clean up water
pollution in rural areas in order to provide safe drinking water to
more than 1.5 million farmers.
Four hundred million yuan will be used to build a new-energy
supply system with the aim of providing 500,000 families in rural
areas access to use marsh gas that can be used for cooking, heating
and bathing.
During the country's
11th-Five-Year Guidelines (2006-2010) for Economic and Social
Development, the province will build a total of 90,000 kilometers
of blacktop roads in rural areas and provide 9 million farmers with
safe tap water.
China is making efforts to accelerate rural reform and
governments at all levels are working to improve agricultural
infrastructure, such as road construction, telecommunications and
electricity networks in rural areas.
(Xinhua News Agency March 6, 2006)