Reliance on land sales 'must be reformed' (3)

According to Hua, migrant workers should be allowed and encouraged to exchange or transfer contracting rights for farmland for land earmarked for property.

Then they should be given financial support from public funds to help them settle in cities, accompanied by a host of supporting measures.

Income distribution is another hot topic, Hua said.

To narrow the gap, policymakers should consider more direct taxes, such as property tax, personal income tax and inheritance tax, while lowering indirect taxes, Hua said.

"Contributions from other sources, such as land revenues, rather than tax revenues, accounts far too much for fiscal revenue, and redistribution is obviously tilting toward urban dwellers, " he said.

A long-awaited income distribution framework was scheduled to come out in December, according to media reports. But it now looks set to come out this year, according to the National Development and Reform Commission, the top economic planner.