China to boost rural construction

Hefty subisidies played a big part in invigorating purchases of home appliances and cars in rural areas. And authorities are now thinking of extending this to sales of construction materials. Apart from lifting domestic consumption, they believe building new homes is all part of building a new countryside.

The central government's No. 1 document said that the government will support house construction in rural areas as an important measure to stimulate domestic consumption.

Zhu Hongren, MIIT Chief Engineer, said,  "Construction materials will be a new area that boosts consumption this year. Promoting consumption of construction material will play an active role in building a new countryside."

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said the detailed rules have not yet been released for offering subsidies for the purchase of building material in rural areas. But it is certain that much needed home improvements and the renovation of dangerous houses will require a large amount of building materials. The new measures aim to improve farmer's livelihoods and benefit the construction of a new countryside.

Economists have pointed out that one of China's fundamental economic challenges is to drive domestic demand. And there is huge potential in stimulating the domestic demand of rural areas.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has noted that quality supervision for construction material should be strengthened. Those that sell sub-standard or polluting materials should be strictly prohibited.