By Xinhua
Beijing : China will work out a permanent mechanism to improve rural infrastructure as part of its efforts to close the widening gap between urban and rural wealth, a senior official said here Thursday.
Chen Xiwen, director of the office of the central leading group on rural work, told a press conference that China would “considerably increase” investment in the countryside to seek coordinated development of urban and rural economies.
The government would expand its agricultural budget and channel its revenues from land-use charges and arable land occupation tax to rural areas, he said. Local governments would also set aside part of their city construction budgets for rural areas.
The move will enable industry to promote agriculture, which remains the weakest link in the national economy, Chen said.
The central government is likely to raise its 2008 rural budget to some 520 billion yuan ($72.2 billion), compared with last year’s 392 billion yuan, he said.
China invested 420 billion yuan (apporx. $58.37 billion) last year in the countryside, representing a record increase of 80 billion yuan from 2006.
Chen’s remarks came after the State Council, China’s cabinet, issued Wednesday the first policy document of the year, reaffirming the government’s commitment to the vast countryside.
Both government expenditure and fixed asset investment in the countryside must “expand at a markedly faster pace” this year, the document said.
Local governments above the county level must ensure that growth in agriculture spending would outpace their revenue growth, it said. It added they should place more emphasis on building infrastructure and developing social undertakings in the countryside than in cities.
More investment would go into building infrastructure in water, gas and electricity, as well as in agricultural technology, education and medical services, among others.
The document also said China would fully protect farmers’ land rights and migrant workers’ interests.
A parallel employment system for rural and urban labourers would be established, with farmers who have a stable job and residence in cities having access to the status as urban residents. Their income, social security, housing and children’s education would be better guaranteed.