China's flourishing agriculture tourism sector will create
350,000 new jobs every year for the next five years, according to
the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA).
The government is actively encouraging agriculture tourism,
whereby tourists pay farmers to pick their own fruit and catch
their own fish, to help meet a target of five percent annual growth
in farmers' incomes.
It will designate 100 counties, 1,000 towns and 10,000 villages
with exceptional resources as special tourism areas.
"The government will use policies on agriculture
industrialization and environmental conservation to support tourism
development, especially in farming areas," said Du Yili, deputy
director of the CNTA.
The government would allocate funds to support agriculture
tourism and guide large travel companies to invest in agriculture
tourism projects.
(Xinhua News Agency July 20, 2006)