China extends rural reform and development in new Party document

BETTER LIFE FOR FARMERS

Apart from these measures, the document also underscored food safety, the establishment of a modern agricultural industrial system and the modernization of rural finances as well as security systems.

"There is an old saying in China, 'food is as essential as the heaven for people,'" said Ke Bingsheng, the China Agricultural University president who previously worked for the Ministry of Agriculture.

"That's why so much importance was attached to issues involving agriculture, farmers and rural areas," he said.

In the past, the CPC Central Committee plenary sessions always stressed agricultural issues, the milestone being the third plenary session of the 11th CPC Central Committee in 1978 that put forward the policy of reform and opening up.

China currently boasts 950 million registered farmers, with 750million living in the countryside. But the income gap between this majority and urban residents has kept widening over the years.

In 2007, the income of urban citizens was more than three times that of farmers, historically, the biggest gap.

In March, the central government allocated 562.5 billion yuan (82.2 billion U.S. dollars) as a budget related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers. This was a year-on-year increase of 130.7billion yuan, said Premier Wen Jiabao in his work report at the opening of the first session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC), the top legislature.

"Now that China has achieved fast development, it is time that farmers, who made great contribution to the economic miracle, share the fruit with (urban) citizens," said Professor Xu Xianglin of the Party School.

Research fellow Li said "our ultimate goal is to have some farmers become citizens, while the rest live a life no worse than the former."

Editor:Du Xiaodan