China Stresses Rural Development

Anchor:

China is pledging to boost development in rural areas with more investment and favorable economic policies.

At a press conference Friday in Beijing, Chen Xiwen, deputy director of the Central Financial Work Leading Group and director of the Central Rural Work Leading Group, spoke about the rural developments in China.

Our reporter Zhang Cheng has more.

Reporter:

Chen Xiwen said that the livelihood of Chinese peasants has significantly improved over the past 60 years.

"The output of our agricultural product has increased to over 500 billion kilograms, ten times more than six decades ago. And the net income for rural residents has also increased remarkably, 700 times more than that in 1949. Meanwhile, the construction of roads, electricity networks as well as facilities for drinking water has all increased a lot and covers most of the rural areas in China."

The official noted that such improvements are brought about by the fast economic growth of China, along with many supporting policies that the government has adopted in rural areas, such as tax cuts and direct subsidies.

The global economic turmoil at the beginning of this year decreased the export of agricultural products and forced many jobless migrant workers to return home.

The official noted that to help the rural economy survive the difficulties, the central government has taken a series of steps and achieved positive effects.

"For example, the government has promoted the sales of home appliances, such as television sets, washing machines, refrigerators and mobile phones at controlled prices with additional rebates, and also invested to improve the infrastructural facilities in rural areas. All those efforts have helped open the rural market and maintain stable growth."

The director added that the government will come up with more favorable policies and increase rural investment in order to further develop rural areas

Zhang Cheng, CRI news.