Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has reiterated the importance of
farming, urging local governments to boost agricultural production
and to ensure a stable rise in farmers' incomes.
"We have seen a summer harvest. Further work should focus on the
production and reaping of autumn crops," Wen said during a two-day
inspection tour of central China's Henan Province on July 15 and 16.
Wen asked local governments to put into effect the minimum-price
policy, which helps protect farmers' incomes by setting minimum
prices for grain crops.
He called for action on problems such as insufficient storehouse
capacity and lack of purchase funds for grain crops.
He also required more efforts be devoted to rectifying the
market of farm production materials and stabilizing prices of farm
tools.
"We should ensure farmers get real benefits from the
government's preferential policies," Wen said.
China has 900 million farmers and the populous Henan province is
one of the top grain houses of the country. The income gap between
farmers and urban citizens has been expanding drastically, causing
instability in some regions.
Visiting local industrial enterprises, Wen listed the prevention
of over-investment in fixed assets and the optimization of
investment structures as two keys to stable and rapid economic
growth.
Land administration departments and banks should play a better
"gatekeeper" role in controlling new investment projects, Wen
said.
Laws and regulations concerning land management should be
enforced stringently, and banks should be more cautious in granting
loans to avoid the over-expansion of industries with high levels of
energy consumption and heavy pollution, he said.
(Xinhua News Agency July 17, 2006)